Meanings
plural mesails · alternative mezail
- historicalThe visor of a helmet, especially when made in two parts.
The workmanship is sound, but not fine—portions of a visor and a mesail and a chin-piece of the period of Elizabeth have been added to it.
1992, Guy Francis Laking, A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries, page 421 more example
The mesail face-defence, still consisting of the visor with its eye-slits and noseguard attached to the helmet by two pivots, could be raised or lowered at will, while the two shell-shaped cheek-pieces formed a bevor or chin [guard].
1968, Paul Martin, Armour and Weapons, Random House Business
Origin
- Frenchmézail
- Old Frenchmuçaille“concealment”
- Englishmesail
Probably from Old French muçaille (“concealment”), via French mézail; only attested in English since the 1800s (also spelled mezail, mursail). Alternatively, a connection to muzzle has also been suggested.
More words from Old French, French
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
mesail. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mesail
“mesail.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mesail. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mesail,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mesail.
Source: mesail on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.