cestus

¹ American  

[ses-tuhs] / ˈsɛs təs /

especially British, cestos

noun

plural

cesti

1. a girdle or belt, especially as worn by women of ancient Greece.

2. Classical Mythology. the girdle of Venus, decorated with every object that could arouse amorous desire.

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cestus ² American  

[ses-tuhs] / ˈsɛs təs /

noun

Roman Antiquity.

plural

cestuses

1. a hand covering made of leather strips and often covered with metal studs, worn by boxers.

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cestus ¹ British  

/ ˈsɛstəs, ˈsɛstɒs /

noun

1. classical myth the girdle of Aphrodite (Venus) decorated to cause amorousness

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cestus ² British  

/ ˈsɛstəs /

noun

1. (in classical Roman boxing) a pugilist's gauntlet of bull's hide loaded or studded with metal

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Etymology

Origin of cestus¹

1570–80; < Latin < Greek kestós a girdle, literally, (something) stitched, equivalent to kes- (variant stem of kenteîn to stitch; see center) + -tos verbal adjective suffix

Origin of cestus²

1725–35; < Latin cestus, caestus

Example Sentences

They were the Army's cestus in punch after armed punch on the slogging road across North Africa, in the invasions of Sicily and Italy.

From Time Magazine Archive

Charm of cestus has ceased With thy clasp!

From The Poetical Works of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Vol. I by Browning, Elizabeth Barrett

What it is; or, rather, who she is, her fingers being among the deftest in laying the ground-threads of Aglaia's cestus.

From The Queen of the Air Being a Study of the Greek Myths of Cloud and Storm by Ruskin, John

Venus has lent her her cestus, and shares with her the attendance of the Graces.

From The History of Emily Montague by Brooke, Frances

By all means let the "profession" take the cestus from the hands of the highwayman and adopt it themselves.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 03, No. 19, May, 1859 by Various