Cataphract
a heavily armed war galley of ancient Greece.
a suit of ancient Roman scale armor for a man or horse.
Zoology. the bony plates or scales covering the body of certain fishes or reptiles.
Historical Examples
cataphract, kat′a-frakt, n. (Milton) a soldier in full armour.
Chambers’s Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) Various
n.
“coat of mail,” Middle English, from Latin cataphractes “breastplate of iron scales,” from Greek kataphraktes “coat of mail,” from kataphraktos “covered up,” from kataphrassein “to fortify,” from kata “entirely” (see cata-) + phrassein “to fence around, enclose, defend” (cf. diaphragm).
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