Also 6 annulette, 7–8 anulet. [f. L. annul-us ring + -ET; prob. refashioned on annlet, andlet, anlet, OFr. annelet, anelet, dim. of anel:—L. ānell-us dim. of ānulus.]
1. A little ring.
1598. Sylvester, Du Bartas (1611), 80. In what sort One Loadstone-touched annlet doth transport Another Iron Ring.
c. 1602. Lingua, in Hazl., Dodsl., IX. 426. Crosslets, pendulets … annulets, bracelets, and so many lets.
1647. R. Stapylton, Juvenal, 123. With summer annulets, and winter rings, He binds the poets fingers.
1699. Lond. Gaz., mmmcccclxxxix/4. Lost … two … Seals with 3 Laurel Leaves, and another with 6 Annulets.
1859. Tennyson, Enid, 1107. Pluck’d the grass … And into many a listless annulet … Wove and unwove it.
2. Her. A small circle worn as a charge in coats of arms.
1572. Bossewell, Armorie, II. 82 b. These annulettes, or … rynges, are also certayne rounde signes or tokens borne in armes, to the great estimacion of the bearer.
1610. Gwillim, Displ. Heraldry, IV. iv. (1660), 278. These are called Annulets in respect of their small quantity … and are supposed to be Rings of Maile.
1725. Bradley, Fam. Dict., Annlet … is the Mark of Distinction which the fifth Brother of any Family ought to bear in his Coat of Arms.
1877. Ll. Jewitt, Half-hrs. among Eng. Antiq., 128. A shield bearing six annulets.
3. Arch. A small fillet encircling a column. Usually applied to the three, four or five fillets under the echinus.
1727–51. Chambers, Cycl., Annulets … are small square Members, in the Doric Capital; under the Quarter-round…. They are also called Fillets, Listels, &c.
1823. P. Nicholson, Pract. Build., 162. Fillets, which, when circular, or encompassing a column are called Annulets.
