orle

US: (ôrl)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

orle  (ôrl), n. 

1. Heraldry
   • a charge in the form of a narrow band following the form of the escutcheon within the edge, so that the extreme outer edge of the escutcheon is of the field tincture.
   • an arrangement in orle of small charges:
     azure, an orle of bezants.
2. Heraldry [Armor.] a thick roll of cloth or leather on a helmet forming a base for an ornamental crest.

Also called or•let  (ôr lā′), orlo. [Archit.] a border, as one formed by a fillet. a fillet at the upper end of the shaft of a column. Cf. cincture (def. 3). a fillet between two flutes of a column.

• Vulgar Latin *ōrulus, diminutive of Latin ōra border
• Middle French: border, edge
• 1565–75