Engrailing

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

  1. Describing the action of surrounding or edging something with a series of small, semicircular indentations or scallops, often used in heraldry to create a decorative border ; indicating the process of adding a notched or turned-in border to a shape, especially on shields or emblems ; referring to the creation of a finely dented or scalloped outline around an object or design, commonly for ornamental purposes in heraldic art
  2. The process by which a border is embellished with a sequence of inward-pointing curves or angles, typically applied in decorative heraldic designs ; marking the act of outlining a figure with repetitive concave shapes that form an ornamental rim, particularly on coats of arms ; involving the formation of a serrated or scalloped edge that encircles a shape as a stylistic feature in traditional emblematic imagery
  3. Applying a decorative edging composed of small curved indentations around a figure, usually seen in heraldry to frame shields ; creating a pattern of inward indentations or scallops along the perimeter of a design to produce a distinctive border ; forming a notched line that enwraps an object, serving as an ornamental edge principally used in heraldic contexts

Etymology: "Engrailing" is the present participle of "engrail," a heraldic and decorative term for a border cut into small, curved semicircles, like the edge of a scallop. The verb was formed in English from the prefix "en-" and "grail," a word meaning a small grain or the edge of something, and it draws on the French "engrêler," meaning to hail or to pelt with hail. The image is of a ragged, grain-like or hail-pocked edge, which is what the border was thought to resemble. The key point is that the scalloped shape is a visual idea imposed on an older sense of granularity. Heralds used the term for the outline of a shield's ordinance or a line on a coat of arms, where the wavy cut-out pattern gave the border its distinctive look. The word thus moved from describing the texture of small pellets to describing a precise, regular decorative pattern.

Synonyms: decorating, embellishing, edging

Antonyms: plain, undecorated, smooth