escutcheon

Etymology

From Middle English scochon, from Anglo-Norman escuchon, Old French escusson (French écusson), ultimately from Latin scutum (“shield”). Related to scutum, scute, scudo, escudo, and écu.

noun

1. (heraldry) An individual or corporate coat of arms.
   And in the meanwhile, Society shivered a little feverishly, filled now with the scions of those who had come over with the Jewish and American Conquests. Escutcheons were becoming valueless, how sinister soever the blots and clots upon them. 1922, Michael Arlen, “1/5/1”, in “Piracy”: A Romantic Chronicle of These Days
2. (heraldry) A small shield used to charge a larger one.
3. (medicine) The pattern of distribution of hair upon the pubic mound.
4. A marking upon the back of a cow's udder and the space above it (the perineum), formed by the hair growing upward or outward instead of downward. It was once taken as an index of milking qualities.
   The milk-mirror, or escutcheon, is formed by the hair above the udder, extending upwards between the thighs, […] 1867, Charles Louis Flint, Milch cows and dairy farming
5. (nautical) The part of a ship's stern where its name is displayed.
6. A decorative and/or protective plate or bezel to fill the gap between a switch, pipe, valve, control knob, etc., and the surface from which it protrudes.
7. The insignia around a doorknob's exterior hardware or a door lock's cosmetic plate.
8. The depression behind the beak of certain bivalves; the ligamental area.