Thank you. That satisfies both camps! We have come across it as a noun in
the later use.
G McS
----- Original Message -----
From: "Postles, Dr D.A." <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, December 30, 2004 2:20 PM
Subject: armiger
The status of armiger relates to the person who carried the knight's arms
(arma), his esquire. The use of armigerous to indicate having a coat of
arms is a later use and I have never come across the noun's use in this
sense, although it does occur in some dictionaries. Gentleman is a very
broad status, distinguished usually by the title Master, and which became
increasingly contested as many aspired to it, including non-armigerous
families - thus Mayors and Aldermen insisted on being addressed as Master
and as Gentleman.
DP
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