A heraldic term denoting a lance or javelin, especially when depicted in a coat of arms or heraldic design.
From Old French 'hastif,' derived from Latin 'hasta' (spear). The word is primarily a technical heraldic term that entered English through French heraldic vocabulary.
Heraldry has preserved dozens of archaic French and Latin terms that would otherwise be extinct—'hastif,' 'passant,' 'quarterly'—making heraldic descriptions like a time capsule of medieval language!
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