passguard

noun

1. An L-shaped piece of armor worn over one arm (typically the left arm), which generally kept it in a bent position and protected it during jousts.

   historical

   Upon a like horse, one armour cap-a-pe, engraven with a ragged staffe, made for the Earl of Leicester, a mainguard, passguard, manifare and gauntlet; the horse's furniture being a chafron, crinet, and breastplate of the ...

2. A ridge or an additional plate on a shoulder piece, to turn the blow of a weapon away from the neck or joint of the armor.

   -Cuirass rounded and projecting

Where it comes from

From French passe-garde, used with the meaning "armor projecting up from a shoulder-piece" since a least the 1800s. It has been suggested that the application of the term (in both English and French) to neck guards is, however, an error, and that the original meaning was "elbow armor".

Adapted from the Wiktionary entry passguard (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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