a. Her. Obs. [ad. and a. OF. escartelé, pa. pple. of escarteler (mod.F. écarteler) to break into quarters = Pr. esquartelar, f. es- (:—L. ex out) + med.L. quartellus, dim. of quartus fourth.]
1. Quartered or quarterly.
1730–6. Bailey (folio), Escartelé.
1775. in Ash.
1889. in Elvin, Dict. Her.
¶ 2. Having a square notch.
This sense is app. due to a misunderstanding of some sort. The Fr. writers on heraldry (e.g., Palliot 1664) recognize croix escartelée only as meaning a cross divided by lines along the middle of each arm: this is substantially = sense 1.)
1688. R. Holme, Armoury, I. iii. 19/1. Escartelee; that is, when the streight Line is cut off in the middle, with a perfect Square. Ibid., 21/1. A Chief Escartelee. Ibid., I. v. 47/2. Some call it a Cross escartalled, couped; as if it had only a nick or notch,… sawed into the four ends of it. Ibid., I. ix. 92. A Cross Patee escarteled at each end. [Hence in mod. Dicts.]
