brassard

[ bras-ahrd, bruh-sahrd ]

/ ˈbræs ɑrd, brəˈsɑrd /

noun

a decorative cloth band, often braided or tasseled, worn around the upper arm, as by military personnel to signify a particular group, regiment, etc.

Also brassart

[bras-ahrt, bruh-sahrt] /ˈbræs ɑrt, brəˈsɑrt/. a piece of plate armor for the arm.

Nearby words

brass rubbing, brass tacks, brass-collar, brass-rubbing, brassage, brassard, brassaï, brassbound, brassed off, brasserie, brassey

Origin of brassard

1820–30; < French, equivalent to bras arm (see brace) + -ard -ard

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for brassard

So popular was the last-named corps that many fictitious members were soon arrested for bearing its brassard.
Recollections of Thirty-nine Years in the Army|Charles Alexander Gordon
The soldier from whom his brassard was taken was considered dead.
Georges Guynemer|Henry Bordeaux
Hazard alone discovered the brassard (armlet) plot, and the fidelity of Dombrowski disclosed that of Vaysset.
History of the Commune of 1871|P. Lissagary
One Brassard, who lived up the Murray River, seems to have been a frequent offender.
A Canadian Manor and Its Seigneurs|George M. Wrong

He wore the Red Cross brassard on the sleeve of his cassock and he carried the Host in a little bag of purple silk.
A Journal of Impressions in Belgium|May Sinclair

British Dictionary definitions for brassard

brassard

brassart (ˈbræsət)

/ (ˈbræsɑːd) /

noun

an identifying armband or badge

a piece of armour for the upper arm

Word Origin for brassard

C19: from French, from bras arm, from Latin brachium

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012