Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Herald
Her′ald
,Noun.
1.
(Antiq.)
An officer whose business was to denounce or proclaim war, to challenge to battle, to proclaim peace, and to bear messages from the commander of an army. He was invested with a sacred and inviolable character.
2.
In the Middle Ages, the officer charged with the above duties, and also with the care of genealogies, of the rights and privileges of noble families, and especially of armorial bearings. In modern times, some vestiges of this office remain, especially in England. See
Heralds’ College
(below), and King-at-Arms
. 3.
A proclaimer; one who, or that which, publishes or announces;
as, the
. herald
of another's fameShak.
4.
A forerunner; a a precursor; a harbinger.
It was the lark, the
herald
of the morn. Shakespeare
5.
Any messenger.
“My herald is returned.” Shak.
Heralds' College
, in England, an ancient corporation, dependent upon the crown, instituted or perhaps recognized by Richard III. in 1483, consisting of the three Kings-at-Arms and the Chester, Lancaster, Richmond, Somerset, Windsor, and York Heralds, together with the Earl Marshal. This retains from the Middle Ages the charge of the armorial bearings of persons privileged to bear them, as well as of genealogies and kindred subjects; – called also
College of Arms
.Her′ald
,Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Heralded
; p. pr. & vb. n.
Heralding
.] [Cf. OF.
herauder
, heraulder
.] To introduce, or give tidings of, as by a herald; to proclaim; to announce; to foretell; to usher in.
Shak.
Webster 1828 Edition
Herald
HER'ALD
,Noun.
1.
An officer whose business was to denounce or proclaim war,to challenge to battle, to proclaim peace, and to bear messages from the commander of an army. Hence, 2.
A proclaimer; a publisher; as the herald of another's fame.3.
A forerunner; a precursor; a harbinger. It was the lark, the herald of the morn.
4.
An officer in Great Britain, whose business is to marshal, order and conduct royal cavalcades, ceremonies at coronations, royal marriages, installations, creations of dukes and other nobles, embassies, funeral processions, declarations of war, proclamations of peace, &c.; also, to record and blazon the arms of the nobility and gentry, and to regulate abuses therein.5.
Formerly applied by the French to a minstrel.HER'ALD
,Verb.
T.