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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

[F.

martinet

. See

the bird, and cf.

a disciplinarian.]

(Zool.)

The European house martin.

[Cf. F.

merlette

(Her.)

A bird without beak or feet; – generally assumed to represent a

martin

. As a mark of cadency it denotes the fourth son.

Noun.

In military language, a strict disciplinarian; so called from an officer of that name.

martlet ‎(plural martlets)

A mythical bird, often used in heraldry, which possessed no feet