▪ I. helmet, n.
(ˈhɛlmɪt)
Forms: 5– helmet, (6 helmette, healmet, Sc. hewmet, hewmond, heumont, 7 helmit).
[a. obs. F. healmet, helmet, dim. of helme (see heaume and helm n.1).]
1. A defensive cover for the head; a piece of armour, usually made of, or strengthened with, metal, which covers the head wholly or in part.
It has varied greatly in shape and material at different periods; the name is still given to the stiff hat of domed or conical form, made of metal or strengthened with bars of metal, worn by many troops.
| 1470–85 Malory Arthur vi. ix, [He] gate hym by the Bauowre of his helmet, and plucked hym doune on his knees. 1513 Douglas æneis ix. vii. 194 Mesapus rich hewmet [ed. 1553 hewmond] schynand brycht. 1563 Winȝet Wks. (1890) II. 6 For a waippin and a werklume, for a speir or a spade, a heumont or a hemmir. 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xi. 22 Upon his head he wore an Helmet light, Made of a dead mans skull, that seemed a ghastly sight. 1789 Belsham Ess. I. vii. 139 Virtue is..a Minerva, armed with helmet, spear, and shield. 1858 Lardner Hand-bk. Nat. Phil. 374 The helmet and cuirass worn by cavalry is a cooler dress than might be imagined, the polished metal being a good reflector of heat. |
| fig. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xxvii. lii, The helmet mekenes, and the shelde good fayth. 1526 Tindale Eph. vi. 17 Take the helmet off heelth. |
† b. transf. Put for a man in armour.
Obs.| c 1500 Melusine xxiv. 189 Men of armes, to the nombre of foure thousand helmets. Ibid. xxx. 225 A houndred helmets of Hongery..valyaunt knightes & good men of werre. |
c. Extended to other (non-military) defensive or protective kinds of head-gear, such as those worn by policemen, firemen, and divers, and the felt or pith hat worn in hot climates.
| 1842 Brande Dict. Sc., etc., s.v. Diving, A helmet of thin sheet copper, which covers the head of the diver. [1858 cf. helmet-maker in 9.] 1882 Ogilvie s.v., Helmets of white felt, with folds of linen wrapped round them, are worn in India and other hot climates as a protection against the sun. The name helmet is also given to a kind of hat worn by policemen. 1885 Times 20 Feb. 6/1 Officers and men were attired in red serge tunics..sun helmets and puggarees. |
2. A representation of a helmet;
esp. in
Her. The figure of a helmet placed above the escutcheon in an achievement and supporting the crest.
| 1610 J. Guillim Heraldry iv. xv. (1611) 231 The bearing of Helmets after these seueral manners. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 263 They take to themselves coates of Armes..yet not with open Helmets, as Gentlemen beare them, but with closed Helmets, after the manner used by the Citizens in Germany. 1847 Gloss. Heraldry s.v., Helmets of different forms are placed above shields of arms to denote the rank of the bearers. |
3. The upper part of a retort;
= helm n.1 5.
| 1599 A. M. tr. Gabelhouer's Bk. Physicke 25/1 Distille therout a water, with a glasse helmet as we are used to distille the stronge waters. 1660 Boyle New Exp. Phys. Mech. viii. 64 We took a Glass Helmet or Alembick..such as Chymists use in Distillations. 1683 Pettus Fleta Min. i. (1686) 121 Put in it fifty pounds of Quicksilver..and place an Helmet upon it. 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, Helmet,..the upper part of a retort. |
4. A kind of fancy pigeon: see
quot. 1735.
| 1676 Cotton Walton's Angler iv. 76 Of the tame [pigeons] there be helmits and runts, and carriers, and cropers. 1735 J. Moore Columb. in Tegetmeier Pigeons xix. (1867) 164 They are called Helmets, from their heads being covered with a plumage which is distinct in colour from the body, and appears somewhat like a helmet to cover the head. 1833 R. Mudie Feathered Tribes Brit. Isles (1841) I. 74. |
5. (in full
helmet-shell.) The shell of a mollusc of the genus
Cassis.
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Cassis lævis, the smooth helmet shell, a name given by Rumphius, though very improperly, to the genus of shells called dolia and conchæ globosæ. 1756 P. Browne Jamaica (1789) 408 The..real Conques come next after the Helmets. 1776 Da Costa Conchol. 290 A Helmet, Cassis. 1863 Wood Illustr. Nat. Hist. III. 381 Cameos..that are cut from the Horned Helmet-shell are white. |
6. A collector's name for a fossil echinoderm,
Galerites albogalerus;
cf. helmet-stone in 9.
| 1887 H. B. Woodward Geol. (ed. 2) 405. |
7. Bot. The arched upper part of the corolla (or calyx) in some flowers,
esp. labiates and orchids; the galea.
| 1793 Martyn Lang. Bot., Helmet, Galea. The upper lip of a ringent corolla. 1862 Darwin Fertil. Orchids ii. (1885) 59 The whole upper part of the helmet answers to the minute oval bit of membrane to which the caudicle of Orchis is attached. 1866 Treas. Bot. I. 335/2 s.v. Coryanthes, At the foot of the column are two fleshy feet, from whose toe perpetually distils a clear honey-like fluid, which drops into the hollow of the helmet. |
8. An appendage of the stipes of the maxilla of some insects, as the cockroach; the galea.
| 1828 Stark Elem. Nat. Hist. II. 313 A corneous and dentated portion..covered by another piece of a membranous consistence, and arched, called the galea or helmet. |
9. attrib. and
Comb., as
helmet-bonnet,
helmet-cone,
helmet-crown,
helmet-feather,
helmet-hat,
helmet-head,
helmet-maker,
helmet-shape;
helmet-shaped,
helmet-strewn,
helmet-tubed adjs.:
helmet-beetle, a beetle of the family
Cassididæ, having a dilated thorax forming a kind of helmet covering the head;
helmet-bird, a bird of the genus
Corythaix, a turakoo;
† helmet-cherry, a kind of cherry:
cf. healme;
helmet-cockatoo,
Callocephalon galeatum, ‘an iron-grey bird with a bright red head’ (Newton);
helmet-crab, a species of King-crab,
Limulus longispinus;
helmet-flower, a name for Monkshood or Aconite, and for orchids of the genus
Coryanthes;
helmet-hornbill, a species of Hornbill,
Buceros galeatus;
helmet-quail, a quail of the American genus
Lophortyx, having an elegant curved crest;
helmet-shell: see sense 5;
helmet-stone: see sense 6.
| 1816 P. Wakefield Nat. Hist. Ins. iv. 35 The larvae of the genus Cassida or *Helmet Beetle. |
| 1794 W. Roberts Looker-on No. 87 ¶6 Still see my *helmet bonnet unimpaired. |
| 1611 Cotgr., Heaulme,..the *Helmet cherrie, Heart-cherrie. |
| 1777 Warton Poems 70 (Jod.) Wearing in death his *helmet-crown. |
| 1832 Tennyson Lady of Shalott iii, The helmet and the *helmet-feather Burn'd like one burning flame together. |
| 1597 Gerarde Herbal (1633) 972 Blew *Helmet-floure, or Monks-hood. 1629 Parkinson Paradisi xxvi. 216 The poisonfull Helmet flower. |
| 1893–6 Newton Dict. Birds 434 The *Helmet-Hornbill, a native of Sumatra and Borneo. |
| 1858 Simmonds Dict. Trade, *Helmet-maker, a maker of defensive coverings for the head, worn by soldiers, firemen, etc. |
| 1813 Scott Trierm. ii. viii, Steel from spur to *helmet-plume. |
| 1776 Withering Brit. Plants (1796) I. 283 Melampyrum..Upper lip *helmet-shaped, compressed. 1835 Lindley Introd. Bot. (1848) I. 335 If the corolla is very irregular with one petal very large and helmet-shaped, it is sometimes called cassideous. |
| 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp., Galea,..a genus of..sea hedgehogs, whose shape is that of a large elevated helmet..This genus, when fossile, is called in English the *helmet stone. |
| 1793 Martyn Lang. Bot., *Helmet-tubed Petal, Galeato-tubulatum petalum. |
Hence
ˈhelmetful, as much as a helmet will hold;
ˈhelmetless a., having no helmet.
| 1863 G. J. Whyte-Melville Gladiators iii. xx. (1864) 416 He would give all his share of spoil for a helmetful of water. 1891 R. Kipling Light that failed ii, A helmetless soldier was firing over Dick's head. |
▸
helmet hair n. colloq. (a) a hairstyle resembling a helmet, typically smooth and relatively short and often held rigidly in place with hairspray or a similar product;
(b) a disarranged or flattened head of hair caused by wearing a helmet;
cf. hat hair n. at
hat n. Additions
| 1984 Hurricane Alice Winter–Spring 9/2 To carefully chip out that delicate face, the tender line of brow, the smooth forehead, the sweet nose, the overhang of *helmet-hair. 1992 Los Angeles Times (Electronic ed.) 19 Jan. (Mag.) 6 In Los Angeles, Spandex shorts, cruel cycling shoes and matted ‘helmet hair’ have become a fashion statement. 1997 People (Electronic ed.) 17 Nov. 103, I had helmet hair from my space suit. 2003 Guardian (Nexis) 17 May 77 He's a cartoon, an eerily complete 1950s/1960s-era TV host, complete with helmet hair. |
helmet-haired adj.| 1987 Chicago Sun-Times 9 Aug. (Sunday Show section) 4/2 (caption) *Helmet-haired Frankie Avalon..danced his way into the hearts of teens in ‘Beach Blanket Bingo’. 2000M. Keyes in J. Adams et al. Girls' Night In 70 ‘It's an alien!’ the helmet-haired, leisure-suited matron yelled. |
▪ II. ˈhelmet, v. [f. helmet n.] trans. To furnish with a helmet.
| a 1661 Fuller Worthies (1840) I. 165 Helmeted on their heads and crested like a lark. 1807 Wordsw. White Doe v. 137, I helmeted a brow though white, And took a place in all men's sight. 1889 Spectator 9 Nov. 637/2 Rock-panoplied giants..helmeted with eternal snow. |