baldric

American  

[bawl-drik] / ˈbɔl drɪk /

Or baldrick

noun

1. a belt, sometimes richly ornamented, worn diagonally from shoulder to hip, supporting a sword, horn, etc.

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baldric British  

/ ˈbɔːldrɪk /

noun

1. a wide silk sash or leather belt worn over the right shoulder to the left hip for carrying a sword, etc

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Other Word Forms

• baldricked adjective

Etymology

Origin of baldric

1250–1300; Middle English bauderik, bawdryk, baudry < Anglo-French baudré, baldré, Old French baldrei, baudré, perhaps < Frankish *baltirad sword belt, equivalent to Latin balte ( us ) belt + Germanic *-rad provision, equipment (compare Old High German rat ); source of final -ik uncertain

Example Sentences

Buckles may have been used on a baldric - or sword-belt - and so the mystery object may have been a matching mount.

From BBC • Jul. 10, 2021

On a baldric he wore a great horn tipped with silver that now was laid upon his knees.

From "The Fellowship of the Ring" by J.R.R. Tolkien

This was not all by any means, for there were pink epaulets, pink satin bows, gold lace, a silver baldric, and a hat with long white ostrich feathers.

From In the Days of Queen Victoria by Tappan, Eva March

The soldier beside him with the green facings and green-and-gold stock is one of the Twenty-fourth Foot—a sergeant by his baldric and cross-spear.

From Cardigan by Chambers, Robert W. (Robert William)

The King, Premier and Judd, had broad red ribbons thrown baldric fashion over breast and shoulders, of such extreme breadth as to give the idea of the wearers having burst their jugular arteries.

From Los Gringos Or, An Inside View of Mexico and California, with Wanderings in Peru, Chili, and Polynesia by Wise, H. A. (Henry Augustus)