Passguard
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 An L-shaped piece of armor worn over one arm (typically the left arm), which generally kept it in a bent position and protected it during jousts. historical
"Upon a like horse, one armour cap-a-pe, engraven with a ragged staffe, made for the Earl of Leicester, a mainguard, passguard, manifare and gauntlet; the horse's furniture being a chafron, crinet, and breastplate of the ..."
- 2 A ridge or an additional plate on a shoulder piece, to turn the blow of a weapon away from the neck or joint of the armor.
"-Cuirass rounded and projecting"
Example
More examples"Upon a like horse, one armour cap-a-pe, engraven with a ragged staffe, made for the Earl of Leicester, a mainguard, passguard, manifare and gauntlet; the horse's furniture being a chafron, crinet, and breastplate of the ..."
Etymology
From French passe-garde, used with the meaning "armor projecting up from a shoulder-piece" since a least the 1800s. It has been suggested that the application of the term (in both English and French) to neck guards is, however, an error, and that the original meaning was "elbow armor".
More for "passguard"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.