greave
[greev]
- a piece of plate armor for the leg between the knee and the ankle, usually composed of front and back pieces.
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Origin of greave
1300–50; Middle English greves (plural) < Old French < ?
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for greave
Contemporary Examples
He, Hawberk, had negotiated for and secured the greave, and now the suit was complete.
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the ShowRobert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014
Did you continue the search so persistently without any certainty of the greave being still in existence?
Read ‘The King in Yellow,’ the ‘True Detective’ Reference That’s the Key to the ShowRobert W. Chambers
February 20, 2014
Historical Examples
A greave was worn on the right leg, and the helmet was of bronze with a crest of three feathers.
Damned if it doesn't look like a greave the old Greek warriors used to wear to protect their shins.
Suddenly alarmed and mystified beyond words, he shuffled forward over the snow, the greave yet clutched in a fur gloved hand.
And when he came he cast his spear, striking the leg below the knee, but the greave turned off the spear, so strong was it.
Stories of the Old worldAlfred John Church
One of them must have gnawed on my ankle some, between the greave and the heel-plate, but he couldn't quite get through.
Spacehounds of IPCEdward Elmer Smith
greave
- (often plural) a piece of armour worn to protect the shin from the ankle to the knee
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French greve, perhaps from graver to part the hair, of Germanic origin
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
Word Origin and History for greave
n.
leg armor, c.1300, from Old French greve "shin, armor for the leg" (12c.), of unknown origin. [Klein suggests it ultimately is from Egyptian Arabic gaurab "stocking, apparel for the leg."]
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper