cestus

¹ American  

[ses-tuhs] / ˈsɛs təs /

especially British, cestos

noun

cesti plural

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.

cestuses plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cesti
  plural
• cestuses
  plural

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

See Examples For:

cestus cesti cestuses

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

The temper of Xantippe herself, if she be but the decent mother of one's children, might work less havoc with a life than this embroidered cestus.

From Holbein by Fortescue, Beatrice

The girdle upon which the shells were hung is the prototype of the cestus of Hathor, Ishtar, Aphrodite, Kali and all the goddesses of fertility in the Old World.

From The Evolution of the Dragon by Smith, G. Elliot

Round the frieze are the games of Greece, the chariot and foot-race, the horse-race, the wrestlers, the cestus, &c.

From Visits and Sketches at Home and Abroad with Tales and Miscellanies Now First Collected Vol. II (of 3) by Jameson, Mrs. (Anna)

It was of her that the Doctor said, “If she spoke rustic Greek instead of bad English, and wore a cestus instead of an ill-fitting corset, you’d swear she was a goddess.”

From The Life of Bret Harte With Some Account of the California Pioneers by Merwin, Henry Childs

Stonore: Cest usage est molt encontre la ley, qe cesti qe doit tenir les plees ne poet pas recorder un attourne en ple qe serra plede devant lui mesme.

From Villainage in England Essays in English Mediaeval History by Vinogradoff, Paul

The ladies wore bandeaux, cestuses, and ribands, stamped and embroidered with the name of Washington; some in gold and silver letters, and some in pearls.

From Washington and the American Republic, Vol. 3. by Lossing, Benson John