fleur-de-lis, flower-de-luce
(flœr də liː, liːs, ˌflaʊə dɪ ˈluːs)
Forms: α. 4–6 flour(e-de-lys(e, -lice, -lyce, (pl. -lycis), 7 -lis, 5–7 -luce, pl. -luces, 6 floredelise, Sc. 5 flour(e-the-lis, -lys. β. 6–9 flower-, (6 flowre-)de-luce, (pl. -luces), 6–7 -lice, (pl. -lices), 6 -lyce, 8 -lys, 7–9 -lis. γ. 8–9 fleur-de-lys, 9 -lis, pl. 7 fleur-de-lysses, -lyzes, 9 fleurs-de-lis, -lys, -luce.
[The prevailing form is a. mod.F. fleur de lis (flœr də lis), formerly lys; but this form is scarcely found in Eng. before the 19th c.; see above. The form flower-de-luce survives as a poetical archaism and in U.S. The Fr. is literally ‘lily-flower’ from lis, formerly lys, in OF. liz for lils lily, the s of the nom. sing. being retained in the oblique cases; the English spelling de-lice, de-lyce, was in its origin merely graphic (cf. price, mice, syce, etc.), but in the 16th c. was associated with a fanciful etymology flos deliciæ, and the form deluce, de luce apparently also leaned upon a fanciful derivation. Occasional English forms were deluce, delyce flowre.]
1. The flower of a plant of the genus Iris (esp. I. pseudacorus); the plant itself. Cf. flag n.1 1.
| 13.. E.E. Allit. P. A. 752 Þy colour passez þe flour-de-lys. a 1400 Hymn Virg. vi. in Warton Hist. Eng. Poetry x. (1840) II. 110 Heil fairer then the flour de lys. c 1475 Rauf Coilȝear 670 Flowris with Flourdelycis formest in feir. 1500–20 Dunbar Thistle & Rose 138 Lat no netill vyle..Hir fallow to the gudly flour delyce. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. vi. 16 The lilly, lady of the flowring field, The flowre-deluce, her lovely paramoure. 1699 Bentley Phal. Pref. 104 The Muses are invited to come under the shadow of Flower-de-luces. 1731–37 Miller Gard. Dict. (ed. 3) s.v. Iris, Iris purpurea..Common purple Fleur-de-Lys. 1837 Campbell Lines in La Perouse's Voy. Poet. Wks. 298 When, rapt in fancy..I..plucked the fleur-de-lys by Jesso's streams. 1866 Longfellow Flower-de-luce viii, O flower-de-luce, bloom on, and let the river linger to kiss thy feet! |
b. fig.
| 1500–20 Dunbar Ballat Our Lady 42 Haile, fair fresche flour-de-lyce! |
2. The heraldic lily; a device supposed by some to have originally represented an iris, by others the top of a sceptre, of a battle-axe or other weapon. It is best known from having been borne upon the royal arms of France under the old monarchy.
| c 1400 Melayne 94 Wende thy waye..To Charles that beris the flour delyce. 1488 in Ld. Treas. Acc. Scotl. I. 81 Item ane vche of gold like a flourethelis of diamantis. 1529 Rastell Pastyme (1811) 75, .iii. floure delyse in a feld asure was sent to Kyng Clouys from hevyn for his armys. 1622 Malynes Anc. Law-Merch. 189 The French Kings Tent with the three Flowerdeluces. 1709 Addison Tatler No. 161 ¶9 A bloody Flag, embroidered with Flower-de Luces. 1843 Lytton Last Bar. ii. ii, A lofty head-gear, embroidered with fleur-de-lis. 1851 Layard Pop. Acc. Discov. Nineveh vii. 163 The first god wears the square horned cap, surmounted by a point, or fleur-de-lys. |
b. The royal arms of France; hence also the French royal family, the French flag (before 1789), the French nation or government.
| 1352 Minot Poems iv. 25 Than the riche floure de lice Wan thare ful litill prise, Fast he fled for ferde. 1494 Fabyan Chron. vii. 519 He, beyng of y⊇ naturall house of Fraunce, & one of y⊇ flouredelyce. 1523 Ld. Berners Froiss. I. ccclxiv. 593 A great parte of the floure delyse and of the chiualry of Fraunce is within the towne. 1556 Chron. Gr. Friars (Camden) 4 By the wych qwene the flower de lyce came in to the armes of Yenglond, & the tyttyll of France. 1581 Sidney Astr. & Stella lxxv, He [Edw. IV] made the Floure-de-luce so fraid. a 1628 F. Greville Sidney (1652) 65 To fly for protection to the Flower-de-Luce with whom they [the Netherlanders] join in continent. 1800 Weems Washington xi. (1810) 165 Blasting on every sea their sickly fleurs-de-luce of gallic piracy. 1865 Parkman Huguenots ii. (1875) 23 They..saw the fleur-de-lis floating above the walls of Fort Coligny. |
3. The representation or figure of a heraldic fleur-de-lis on any article, e.g. that used to mark the north on a compass. Also, (Fr. Hist.) a brand-mark on a criminal.
| 1475 Bk. Noblesse 4 To vapour, sprede out, according to the flour delice, and avaunce hem forthe. 1594 Blundevil Exerc. vii. xxiv. (ed. 7) 681 Of which lines, that which is marked with the Flower-deluce signifieth the North. 1676 B. W[illis] Man. Goldsm. 100 Other sorts of weights..Marked..with..the Dagger..a Flower-de-luce, and..a Vessel or Ewer. 1739 H. Beighton in Phil. Trans. XLI. 754 Each Chart has a Flower de Lys on its North Edge. 1790 Burke Fr. Rev. 124 The slanders of those who bring us their anecdotes with the attestation of the flower-de-luce on their shoulder. 1825 J. Nicholson Operat. Mechanic 491 As the ring turns round, the seconds upon it are shown by the top point of a fleur-de-lis C, engraved on the face of the dial-plate. c 1850 Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 5 In the compass, the northern extremity of the needle beneath is represented on the card..by the fleur-de-lis. |
Hence fleur-de-lis v. (after F. fleurdeliser), to brand (a criminal) with the fleur-de-lis. fleur-de-lised ppl. a., adorned with fleurs-de-lis.
| 1650 Howell Cotgrave's Fr. Dict. Ep. Ded., It was as much as if he had been flourdeliz'd, viz. burnt in the back or hand, or branded in his face. 1686 J. Sergeant Hist. Mon. Convent. 104 A Cross Flower-de-lys'd. 1843 Fraser's Mag. XXVII. 418 The Count of Champagne..carried the fleur-de-lised banner. |