Etymology

cataphract

ca·ta·phract
C3A1T1A1P3H4R1A1C3T1

Today it means: Defensive armour covering the entire body of a soldier and often the soldier's horse as well, especially the linked mail or scale armour of some eastern nations. Full definition →

Latin cataphractes ← Ancient Greek κατάφρακτος
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

cataphract · noun1

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromκατάφρακτος“suit of armour”
  2. Latin · derived fromcataphractes“suit of armour”
  3. English todaycataphract

From Latin cataphractes (“suit of armour”), from Ancient Greek κατάφρακτος (katáphraktos, “suit of armour”), from κατα- (kata-, prefix indicating a great degree or intensity) + φρακτός (phraktós, “protected; fenced in”) (from φράσσω (phrássō, “to fortify, secure; to fence in”)) + -της (-tēs, suffix forming nouns indicating a state of being).

cataphract · adjective, noun2

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromκατάφρακτος“covered, enclosed, shut up; completely suited in armour”
  2. Latin · derived fromcataphractus“wearing armour, mailed”
  3. Ancient Greek · derived fromκατάφρακτος“covered, enclosed, shut up; completely suited in armour”
  4. English todaycataphract

The adjective is derived from Ancient Greek κατάφρακτος (katáphraktos, “covered, enclosed, shut up; completely suited in armour”), from καταφράσσειν (kataphrássein, “to suit in armour”) (see further at etymology 1) + -τος (-tos, “suffix forming adjectives”). The noun is derived from Latin cataphractus (“wearing armour, mailed”), from Ancient Greek κατάφρακτος (katáphraktos, “covered, enclosed, shut up; completely suited in armour”); see above.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.