preyant

English

Crest of Lathom of Lathom, Lancashire (later adopted by Stanley, Earl of Derby) : an eagle or preyant upon a child proper swaddled gules.

Adjective

preyant

1. (heraldry) Preying; in the posture of preying (upon something).

   Synonym: preying

   • 1780, Joseph Edmondson, A Complete Body of Heraldry:

     Lowe, [New Sarum, in Wiltshire] Gu. a wolf preyant ar. Crest, a wolf's head couped ar. collared or.

   • 1880, Thomas Spencer Baynes, The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and General Literature, page 700:

     Culcheth of Culcheth: argent, an eagle disclosed, preyant on a child in a mantle gules, wattled or. This is the crest of Stanley, well known in Lancashire as the bird and bantling.

Anagrams

• Paynter, prytane