Tonlet
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A long armoured skirt, designed for combat on foot. historical
"Accordingly, the Greenwich armoury hurriedly prepared a somewhat more conventional suit of foot combat armour made from existing pieces but incorporating newly made symmetrical pauldrons and a tonlet."
- 2 One of the plates which make up such a skirt. historical
"Soon after this the six or eight "tonlets" grow fewer, being continued on the lower edge by the so-called tuilles, small plates strapped to the tonlets and swinging with the movement of the legs."
Example
More examples"Accordingly, the Greenwich armoury hurriedly prepared a somewhat more conventional suit of foot combat armour made from existing pieces but incorporating newly made symmetrical pauldrons and a tonlet."
Etymology
From Middle English tonlet, Old French tonnelet (French tonnelet (“high breeches; keg”)).
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.