corselet

American  

[kawr-suh-let, kawrs-lit] / ˌkɔr səˈlɛt, ˈkɔrs lɪt /

noun

1. Also corselette a woman's lightweight foundation garment combining a brassiere and girdle in one piece.

2. Armor. Also corslet

   1. a suit of light half armor or three-quarter armor of the 16th century or later.

   2. cuirass.

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corselet British  

/ ˈkɔːslɪt /

noun

1. Also spelt: corslet.  a piece of armour for the top part of the body

2. a one-piece foundation garment, usually combining a brassiere and a corset

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Etymology

Origin of corselet

1490–1500; < Middle French, equivalent to cors “bodice, body” + -elet -let

Example Sentences

Famed Choreographer Agnes de Mille, who danced the part first in 1938, turned up as Venus in droopy net stockings, ruffled corselet and a blonde wig suggesting Gorgeous George playing Lady Godiva.

From Time Magazine Archive

Her whole mind was in a turmoil of thought, and every time the infamous letter crackled beneath her corselet, she shuddered as with fear.

From Petticoat Rule by Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness

His corselet, steel cap, and gauntlets lay beside him, and seemed to show that he had just come in from the field.

From My Lady Rotha A Romance by Weyman, Stanley J.

Putting on a slightly padded skin jacket that the friction with her armor had already begun to blacken, she cased her breast in her iron corselet, that Madeleine strapped on as well as she could.

From The Executioner's Knife Or Joan of Arc by Sue, Eug?ne

Still at the age of vigorous manhood, he wore an iron corselet and arm-pieces, while a heavy sword hung from his side.

From The Pocket Bible or Christian the Printer A Tale of the Sixteenth Century by Sue, Eug?ne

Related Words

• bodice
• underwear