targe

T1A1R1G2E1
UK/tɑːd͡ʒ/US/tɑɹd͡ʒ/

noun

A small shield.

Similar
target
OriginMiddle English targe ← Old French targe ← Frankish *targā →
UncommonScrabble 6
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nountarge (plural targes)

plural targes

  1. archaicA small shield.

    Or burley Hero [Ajax the Great] Sev'nfold Targe who bore, / With Choler furibund, vindictive Steel / Plunging in Brutal Gore; [...]

    1730, Andrew Brice, Freedom: A Poem, Written in Time of Recess from the Rapacious Claws of Bailiffs, and Devouring Fangs of Goalers, […], Exon [Exeter, Devon]: […] [T]he author, […], →OCLC, page 80
    3 more examples

    The Jester wore his usual fantastic habit, but late accidents had led him to adopt a good cutting falchion, instead of his wooden sword, with a targe to match it; [...]

    1819 December 20 (indicated as 1820), Walter Scott, chapter X, in Ivanhoe; a Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co. […], →OCLC, page 242

    But now the Moormen, stalking o'er the strand / to guard the wat'ery stores the strangers need; / this, targe on arm and assegai in hand, / that, with his bended bow, and venom'd reed[.]

    1880, Richard Francis Burton, Os Lusíadas, volume I, page 33

    The Bearkillers’ swordmistress danced. Her targe beat aside a spearhead, and then the backsword flicked out in a blurring thrust.

    2004, S[tephen] M[ichael] Stirling, Dies the Fire, New York, N.Y.: Roc Books, →ISBN, page 444
  2. archaicA pendant or tassel.

    Synonyms: target

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA pendant or tassel.

Similar
target
Also see
target

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*derǵʰ-“fenced lot”
  2. Proto-Germanic*targǭ“edge”
  3. Old Norsetarga“round shield”
  4. Old Englishtarga
  5. Frankish*targā“buckler”
  6. Old Frenchtarge
  7. Middle Englishtarge
  8. Englishtarge

From Middle English targe, either: * from Old French targe, from Frankish *targā (“buckler”); or * from Old English targa (masculine) and targe (feminine); both ultimately from Old Norse targa (“round shield”) from Proto-Germanic *targǭ (“edge”), from Proto-Indo-European *derǵʰ- (“fenced lot”). Akin to Old High German zarga (“side wall, rim”) (German Zarge (“border, frame”)). However, the soft -g- seems to indicate a French origin.

More words from Middle English, Old French, Frankish

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with targe

largechargeenlargedischargebargesargemargemargMarjembargepargereverse chargewrit large
All rhymes →

Anagrams

greatGretagrategaterGTAerretag
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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