gousset

G2O1U1S1S1E1T1

noun

A small piece of mail, providing some protection where two plates of armor are joined, usually at the elbows, under the shoulders, and behind the knees.

Scrabble 8

Meanings

noungousset (plural goussets)

plural goussets · alternative gusset

  1. A small piece of mail, providing some protection where two plates of armor are joined, usually at the elbows, under the shoulders, and behind the knees.

    At the joint, or bending of the arm, the vambraces were cut obliquely, the vacancies on the inside, when the arms were streightened, were covered by pieces of mail callet [sic] Goussets, and afterwards by a contrivance of plates resembling hearts.

    1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 22

Origin

  1. Frenchgousset
  2. Frenchgousset
  3. Englishgousset

Borrowed from French gousset.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

gousset. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gousset

MLA

“gousset.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gousset. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gousset,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gousset.

Source: gousset on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.