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; 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

Pelagia’s tip to Hypatia’s father was the dancer’s cestus, which was jewelled with precious stones enough to stock the shop of a Bond Street jeweller of our own time.

From The Idler Magazine, Volume III., July 1893 An Illustrated Monthly by Various

He cared no more either for the prowess of two combatants who, wearing a cestus on the left arm, fought with sticks.

From The Works of Theophile Gautier, Volume 5 The Romance of a Mummy and Egypt by Sumichrast, Frederick C. de (Frederick Caesar de)

After this, while the dolphin was maintained, a cestus was sometimes added, and heavy drapery applied in various folds.

From Art Principles With Special Reference to Painting Together with Notes on the Illusions Produced by the Painter by Govett, Ernest

The cestus, like our "brass-knuckle," was a thong of hide, loaded with lead, and bound over the hand.

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