Etymology

passguard

P3A1S1S1G2U1A1R1D2

Today it means: 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. Full definition →

French passe-garde
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The story

  1. French · derived frompasse-garde
  2. English todaypassguard

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".

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.