pursuivant en · NOUN
Pronunciation
Etymology
From Middle English pursevant et al., from Old French pursuivant, present participle of pursuivre (“to follow”). Doublet of pursuant.
Meanings
-
A functionary of lower rank than a herald, but discharging similar duties; an attendant of the heralds, e.g. in the College of Arms.
The herald Hope, forerunning Fear, / And Fear, the pursuivant of Hope.
1845, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, To A Child:How oft do they [the blessed Angels] with golden pineons, cleaue / The flitting skyes, like flying Purſuiuant, / Againſt fowle feendes to ayd vs millitant: […]
1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, page 291:
- A Grand Lodge Officer who guards the inner door during a meeting of the Grand Lodge.
-
A royal messenger, (particularly) one with the authority to execute warrants.
The law was altogether without force in the highlands which lie on the south of the vale of Tralee. No officer of justice willingly ventured into those parts. One pursuivant who in 1680 attempted to execute a warrant there was murdered.
1851, Thomas Babington Macaulay, chapter XII, in The History of England from the Accession of James the Second, volume III, London: Longman, Brown, Green, and Longmans, →OCLC, page 138:
- (broadly) A warrant officer.
- (archaic) A follower.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| poursuivant | alternative | lexicographic | |
| pursuivants | Number=Plur | lexicographic | |
| pursevant | alternative | lexicographic |