▪ I. cuirass, n.
(kwɪˈræs, kjuːˈræs)
Forms: α. 5 curas, -esse, quyras, 5–7 curace, 6–7 curase, cuirace, -rasse, cuyrasse, 7 curasse, 7– cuirass; β. 6 cuyratz, 6–7 curats, 7 curets, cuirats; γ. 6–7 curet, -e, curat, -e, 6 curiet, curret, -ette, 7 cuiret.
[In the forms curas, quyras, curace, cuirasse, a. F. cuirasse (1418 in Hatzfeld), f. cuir leather, after Pr. coirassa, It. corazza, Sp. coraza:—L. coriācea adj. (fem.) leathern, f. corium leather; the med.L. corācium, corātium, cuirass, is from the mod. langs. The original OF. name was cuiriée (later quirie):—L. type *coriāta, whence ME. quirie, quirre. In 16th c. a frequent Eng. form was curats, cuirats, app. under the influence of It. curazza: cf. MLG. koritz, ODa. körritz, kyrritz, etc. This being, from its final s, treated as a plural, gave the mutilated singular curat, curate, etc., common 1560–1650. The stress was then on the first syllable, but was subsequently under F. influence shifted to the second: Bailey 1730 has cuiˈrass.]
1. A piece of armour for the body (originally of leather); spec. a piece reaching down to the waist, and consisting of a breast-plate and a back-plate, buckled or otherwise fastened together; still worn by some European regiments of cavalry.
The breastplate alone was sometimes called a cuirass, or the two pieces combined were called (a pair of) cuirasses, and the breast-plate a half-cuirass. The word has also been used in a general sense for all kinds of ancient close-fitting defensive coverings for the body, made of leather, metal, or other material.
(α) Form cuirass (curas, etc.), pl. cuirasses († curas).
| 1464 Mann. & Househ. Exp. 195 And my mastyr lent hym a payr of smale curas wyth gardys and vumbarde. c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon ix. 241 He smote Gerarde thrughe the quyras. 1495 Act 11 Hen. VII, c. 64 Preamb., Armours Defensives, as..Billes Hauberts Curesses. 1548 Hall Chron. 12 One company had the..border of the curace all gylte. 1598 Barret Theor. Warres v. ii. 141 The Man at Armes..with his cuyrasses of proofe. 1618 Bolton Florus iv. ii. 281 A golden curace, or brest-plate. 1678 tr. Gaya's Arms of War 44 The Cuirass is Musket-proof. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) IV. 289 The armour of the horse-guards with half-cuirasses. 1820 Scott Monast. xxxv, The troopers..armed with cuirass and back-plate. 1846 Hist. Rec. Life Guards 215 On this day (1821) the Household Brigade first appeared in Cuirasses, which it has since worn. |
† (β) Form curats, cuirats, etc.
| 1591 Harington Orl. Fur. xxiii. cvi, He casts away his curats and his shield. 1598 Chapman Iliad iii. 343 The curets that Lycaon wore. 1611 Cotgr., Cuirasse, a Cuirats. 1627 Lisander & Cal. iii. 55 Just betweene his arme and the curats. 1647 W. Browne tr. Polexander ii. 216 Hee made his cuirates fly in a thousand pieces. |
† (γ) This form treated as pl., with a sing. curat, etc.
| 1552 Huloet, Curet, breast-plate or stomager. 1555 Eden Decades 98 Eyther bresteplates or curettes of golde. 1596 Spenser F.Q. v. viii. 34 Through his curat it did glyde. a 1625 Boys Wks. (1629) 533 Paul here makes no mention of a backe Curate for a Christian souldier. 1627 Drayton Agincourt 46 Their Curates are vnriuetted with blowes. |
† 2. pl. Soldiers wearing cuirasses. Obs.
| 1598 Barret Theor. Warres v. ii. 143 Accompanied with Lances, or cuyrats on horsebacke, I meane armed petranels or pistoliers. |
3. transf. a. The breast-plate of the Jewish high-priest.
| 1836 Keble in Lyra Apost. (1849) 169 The mystic cuirass gleams no more, In answer from the Holy One. |
b. A close-fitting (sleeveless) bodice, often stiffened with metal trimmings or embroidery, worn by women.
| 1883 Standard 3 Aug. 3/1 A dark brown [dress] with a cuirass of gold lace. 1889 John Bull 2 Mar. 150/2 Mrs. C.'s dress was of white silk, with tablier and cuirass bodice embroidered in pearls. |
4. fig. a. Applied to the buckler or any hard protective covering of an animal. b. transf. The armour-plate protection of the sides of a ship, etc.
| 1598 Sylvester Du Bartas i. vi. (1641) 51/1 Th' hast armed some [creatures]..with thick Cuirets, some with scaly Necks. 1860 Engineer 16 Nov. 316/2 Whitworth's gun may punch a hole in the iron cuirass of these ships. 1888 Rolleston & Jackson Anim. Life 831 A very distinct cuticle, either a dorsal thickened cuirass, a bivalved cuirass, or rings of plates. |
c. In full cuirasse band. A band made of linen pressed in layers to protect a cycle tyre.
| 1906 Daily Chron. 28 Nov. 9/2 The winter and tropical tyre..consists of a smooth vulcanised cover, with cuirasse band put on top by hand. 1907 Ibid. 12 Oct. 9/4 The Paris cuirasse band... Unlike the Sphinx, the cuirasse becomes an integral part of the tyre, being attached inside the cover. |
5. In full cuirass respirator. An apparatus covering the chest and providing artificial respiration.
| 1939 Rep. Med. Res. Council Breathing Machines 16 The Burstall jacket respirator (1938)..consists of a one-piece aluminium cuirass to enclose the trunk..from the neck to the waist-line... The London County Council cuirass respirator (1938) has been designed..to overcome many of the disadvantages of the original Burstall cuirass. 1955 Times 13 May 6/3 A cuirass respirator..which allows the ‘iron lung’ to be dispensed with after the first few weeks of poliomyelitis. The patient has full use of his limbs and the breathing cycle is maintained by a small pump standing by the bed. 1959 Times 25 Sept. 8/5 Later demonstrations included the working of the R.A.F. portable version of an iron lung—the Monaghan cuirass—which is smaller and lighter and allows more mobility than the ground equipment. |
▪ II. cuirass, v.
(kwɪˈræs, kjuːˈræs)
[f. prec. n.]
trans. To cover or protect with, or as with a cuirass; to furnish (a ship) with armour-plating.
| 1863 G. T. Lowth Wand. West. France 326 There were two frigates on the stocks, one..of wood..to be cuirassed. 1880 Browning Dram. Idylls, Clive 50 His scalemail's warty iron cuirasses a crocodile. 1881 Daily News 10 Mar. 5/1 Black silk dresses are cuirassed with an armour of jet. |