Meanings
plural cuirasses
- A piece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle.
The cuirass covered the body before and behind, it consisted of two parts, a breast and back piece of iron, fastened together by means of straps and buckles, or other contrivances. They were originally as the name imports, made of leather, but afterwards of metal, both brass and iron.
1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 19 - The breastplate taken by itself.
Lady Orkney's history, to whose house we are going, is a curious one. As Miss Elizabeth Villiers, by her charms she pierced the cuirass that enveloped the well-disciplined heart of William III.
1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 43–44
present singular third person cuirasses · participle present cuirassing · participle past cuirassed · past cuirassed
- transitiveTo cover with defensive armor; to armor-plate.
Origin
- Old Frenchcuirace
- Middle Englishcurasse
- Englishcuirass
First use appears c. 1464. From Middle English curasse, curesse, from Old French cuirace, spelling influenced by modern French cuirasse.
More words from Middle English, Old French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian ризница, кираса
- ризница (riznica)piece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
- кираса (kirasa)piece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Catalan cuirassa, buc
- cuirassapiece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
- bucpiece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Chinese Mandarin 胸甲
- 胸甲 (xiōngjiǎ)piece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Czech kyrys
- kyryspiece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Dutch kuras
- kuraspiece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Esperanto kiraso
- kirasopiece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Finnish rintahaarniska
- rintahaarniskapiece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
French cuirasse
- cuirassepiece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
German Kürass
- Kürasspiece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Greek θώρακας
- θώρακας (thórakas)piece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Icelandic bolbrynja
- bolbrynjapiece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Italian corazza
- corazzapiece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Norwegian kyrass
- kyrasspiece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Persian بگتر, جوشن
- بگتر (begtar)piece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
- جوشن (jowšan)piece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
- چلته (čelte)piece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Polish kirys
- kiryspiece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Portuguese couraça
- couraçapiece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Russian кира́са
- кира́са (kirása)piece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Spanish coraza
- corazapiece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Swedish kyrass
- kyrasspiece of defensive armor, covering the body from the neck to the girdle
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with cuirass
Anagrams
Cite this entry
cuirass. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cuirass
“cuirass.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cuirass. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cuirass,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cuirass.
Source: cuirass on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.