gauntlet
/ˈɡɔːnt.lət/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.14 in modern English
9
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Protective armor for the hands, formerly thrown down as a challenge to combat.
noun
A simultaneous attack from two or more sides.
noun
Any challenging, difficult, or painful ordeal, often one performed for atonement or punishment.
Example Sentences
- "The hands were defended by Gauntlets, these were sometimes of chain mail, but oftener of small plates of iron rivetted together, in imitation of the lobster's tail, so as to yield every motion of the hand, some gauntlets inclosed the whole hand, as in a box or case, others were divided into fingers, each finger consisting of eight or ten separate pieces, the inside gloved with buff leather, some of these reached no higher than the wrist, others to the elbow; the latter were stiled long armed gauntlets: many of them are to be seen in the Tower; for a representation of one of them, see plate 26, fig 6."
- "The hawk no longer darts forth from the gauntlet to soar through the air for his prey."
- "Solventproof rubber gauntlets under solventproof sleeves closed at the wrists should be worn."
- "[John] Winthrop ran the gantlet of daily slights from his neighbors."
Etymology
From Middle English gauntelett, gantlett, a borrowing from Old French gantelet (“gauntlet worn by a knight in armor, a token of one's personality or person, and symbolizing a challenge”), diminutive of gant (“glove”), a borrowing from Frankish *want (“glove; mitten”) and reinforced by Medieval Latin wantus (“glove”) itself borrowed from the former, from Proto-Germanic *wantuz (“glove; mitten”). Cognate with Dutch want (“mitten; shroud”), German Low German Want (“shroud”), Danish vante (“mitten”), Swedish vante (“glove; mitten”), Faroese vøttur (“glove; mitten”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: gauntelett, gantelet, *wantu, wantus, *wantuz, gatlopp