Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

passguard

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English

Syllables: pass-guard
IPA

13

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

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.

noun

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.

Example Sentences

"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 ..."
"[…] fastened to it by a clasp at the back and a linch pin in front; the passguard, or elbow-piece; and the bridle-gauntlet."
"The passguard is much larger than that worn in jousting at the tilt, reaching nearly to the left shoulder."
"-Cuirass rounded and projecting"
"Epaulières re-appear on the shoulders, but pauldrons are also used, with the inner parts turned up: these are called passguards. The coutes are larger than we often have them at this period. […]"
"The knight's head rests upon his tilting-helmet, under which is a cushion. The helmet bears the crest an elephant's head […] The epaulières have ridges called passguards to protect the neck, and upon the breast ..."

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".

Origin

Source language: French

Word Breakdown

Root: passe-garde

Inflected Forms

passguards (plural)

Frequently Paired Words

grand guard gardbrace

Synonyms

pasguard neck guard passegarde garde-collet haute piece pikeguard swordbreaker

Questions

What does passguard mean?: 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.
Where does passguard come from?: It is traced to French.

How to pronounce passguard

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “passguard”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling () so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “passguard”.
Repeat and practice — Say “passguard” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.