ventail

[ ven-teyl ]

/ ˈvɛn teɪl /

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noun

the pivoted middle element of a face defense of a close helmet.

a flap of mail attached to a coif and fastened across the lower part of the face during combat.

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Also aventail.

Origin of ventail

1300–50; Middle English <Middle French ventaille, equivalent to vent (<Latin ventuswind¹) + -aille-al²

Words nearby ventail

venous sphygmograph, venous star, venovenostomy, vent, ventage, ventail, Ventana Cave, venter, vent gleet, Venti, ventifact

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use ventail in a sentence

It has a tilting helmet with visor in two pieces, and a shutter in the ventail; the leg-armour is still complete.
Spanish Arms and Armour|Albert F. Calvert
The other drags him by the helmet, tearing all the fastening, and he strikes from his head the ventail and the gleaming coif.
Four Arthurian Romances|Chretien DeTroyes
The ventail bris dates from the period of the first introduction of the folded fan into Europe.
History of the Fan|George Woolliscroft Rhead
The upper part is the visor, to admit of vision, the lower the ventail, to admit of breathing.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 5 (of 7) -- Notes to the Canterbury Tales|Geoffrey Chaucer

I fail to see why; the weapon that pierced a ventail would pass into the head, and inflict a death-wound.
Chaucer's Works, Volume 5 (of 7) -- Notes to the Canterbury Tales|Geoffrey Chaucer

British Dictionary definitions for ventail

ventail

/ (ˈvɛnteɪl) /

noun

(in medieval armour) a covering for the lower part of the face

Word Origin for ventail

C14: from Old French ventaille sluice, from vent wind, from Latin ventus

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