tasse

Definition

A piece of armor for the hips and thighs: one of a set of plates (each being of one piece or segmented) hanging from the bottom of the breastplate or from faulds.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English tasse (“armor plate protecting the hip”), derived from Old French tasse, tasche (“purse; pouch”), derived from Frankish *taskā (“pouch”), derived from Proto-Germanic *taskǭ. Cognate with Old High German tasca (“pouch”), German Tasche (“pocket; pouch; bag”), Dutch tas (“bag”).

Example Sentences

• "This included the head-piece and gorgett, the back and breast, with skirts of iron called tasses or tassets covering the thighs, as may be seen in the figures, representing the exercise of the pike, published anno 1622, by the title of the Military Art of Training; the same kind of armour was worn by the harquebusiers."
• "The tasse, meant only to cover the hips, was so long that its edges scraped against the floor."