In the context of heraldry, what is the equivalent of "opposé" in English?

Question

I am reading through the Wiktionnaire page for opposé. More specifically, I am reading through the definitions of the "Adjectif" section.

I can translate the definitions into English without too much difficulty. I even found equivalent terms in English for most of them. However, the one definition of "opposé" that has me stumped is the following.

(Héraldique) (Rare) Se dit de meubles dont l’orientation est inversée par rapport à celle des autres meubles.

(Heraldry) (Rare) Said of charges whose orientation is inverted in relation to that of other charges.

I am tempted to translate it as "opposite", but I am not sure. After all, heraldry has a specialized glossary of terms.

Speaking of glossaries, I have found online glossaries of terms for heraldry. Some of them even list the French equivalent next to the English term. Unfortunately, I have not been able to find "opposé" in those glossaries. The fact that it is a rare word may have something to do with it.

I am told that there are heraldry enthusiasts here. If they know what the equivalent of "opposé" is in English, I hope that they step forward and tell me.

Answer 1

I didn't find a good translation. "inverted" is used only for wings in [1,2], I would avoid it and prefer "opposite". But there are other options:

a) Specify direction only for the charges pointing to the sinister, as, when nothing is said, it is supposed a charge point to dexter [3]. I guess the rule "dexter by default" is why the word is rare -> [1] uses terms such as "flying to the sinister" or "head to the sinister".

e.g.: A lion "defamed" or "diffamed" is supposed to be rampant to the sinister but looking backwards, the supposition being that the animal is being (against his will) chased off the field with infamy. [1]

b) When you have only two animal charges, there are more specific words

"combatant" - two lions rampant facing each other, as if fighting [1,2,3]

"Counter salient" - Two animals leaping different ways from other. [2]

"Counter passant." Two animals passing the contrary way to each other (e.g., take Normandy arms and flip one beast to face the other side). [2]

[1] ARTHUR CHARLES FOX-DAVIES THE ART OF HERALDRY AN ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ARMORY, London, 1904, available on Internet Archive

[2] ARTHUR HALL, MANUAL OF HERALDRY: BEING A CONCISE DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL TERMS USED, available on Internet Archive

[3] Slater Stephen, The complete book of heraldry

Answer 2

Disclaimer: I'm not involved in heraldry at all, nor do I know any French beyond a few basic words.

I think the problem here is that there are several English words which could be used as a translation from the French inversée, with opposite being one of them.

In this case the French inversée actually has a direct English equivalent, "inverse" (adjective), which means "Opposite in order, nature or effect". This can be contrasted with Invert (verb), which means "Reverse in position, order or relationship", but usually refers to turning something upside down as in "He inverted the cup and the water fell to the floor".

The adjectival form means that inverse is the correct one to use because it is referring to the opposition of the charge relative to the other charges. This keeps the up-down orientation