the.com/breastplate
the original chest day, worn by people who took heartbreak literally and lethally
means A piece of armor that covers and protects the chest, worn over the torso in battle or ceremony.
from A plain English compound of "breast" and "plate" — the chest, plus a flat sheet of metal. "Breast" comes from Old English "brēost," with cousins across the Germanic languages (German "Brust"). "Plate" arrived via Old French "plate" (a thin flat piece), from Medieval Latin "plata," ultimately tied to a Greek root meaning "broad, flat." Put them together and you get exactly what it says: a flat metal sheet for the chest, named with the no-nonsense literalism of armorers who had better things to do than poetry.
- high priest
- Hebrew breastplate held twelve gemstones for Israel's tribes
- bulletproof debut
- early plate could deflect musket balls, leaving proof dents
- horse gear
- the strap across a horse's chest shares the name
- sternum shield
- named for the bone it guards, the breastbone
henry viii's armor — ornate gilded breastplate made at the royal workshops, greenwich, around 1520, weighing 90 pounds
roman lorica segmentata — segmented iron breastplate worn by legionaries from 1st-3rd century ad across the empire
samurai do cuirass — lacquered leather and metal breastplate worn by japanese warriors from 12th-19th centuries