cardiophylax
Syllables: car·di·o·phy·lax/ˌkɑː.diː.əˈfɪ.læks/UK/ˌkɑː.diː.əˈfɪ.laks/
cardiophylax noun: a piece of body armour—originally a metal breastplate or pair of plates—worn in classical antiquity to protect the region of the heart. Typically circular or square discs, fastened by leather straps, used in Italy from the Villanovan and Etruscan periods (7th century BCE) and later by Roman Republican legionaries and gladiators such as provocatores.
Noun
cardiophylax (plural cardiophylaxes)
- A piece of body armour—originally a metal breastplate or pair of plates—worn in classical antiquity to protect the region of the heart. Typically circular or square discs, fastened by leather straps, used in Italy from the Villanovan and Etruscan periods (7th century BCE) and later by Roman Republican legionaries and gladiators such as provocatores.
- Near-synonym: pectorale
- On the other side of the cardiophylax, the surviving details indicate riders, possibly Dioscuri, within a frame of branches.1969, Đorđe Mano-Zisi, Ljubiša B. Popović, Novi Pazar, Narodni muzej, page 81
- Synonyms:
- pectorale
Examples of cardiophylax in a sentence
- This is the cardiophylax, or heart protector, which Polybius tells us was worn in his own time by the poorer infantry, those who could not afford chain mail.2007 October 10, Phil Sidnell, Warhorse: Cavalry in Ancient Warfare, Bloomsbury Publishing, page 159:
- However, a cardiophylax appears on a fourth-century figurine recovered from southern Gaul at Nimes (Gard), raising the possibility that some Gallic warriors wore these forms of armour.2025 June 27, Alastair R. Lumsden, Elite Masculinity and Warfare in Cisalpine Gaul, C. 400-50 BCE: What it Means to be a Man, Taylor &...
Synonyms of cardiophylax
- pectorale
Forms of cardiophylax
| plural | cardiophylaxes |
|---|
Origin of cardiophylax
Borrowed from Latin cardiophylax, derived from Ancient Greek καρδία (kardía) + φύλαξ (phúlax).
Questions about cardiophylax
- What does cardiophylax mean?
- Cardiophylax means a piece of body armour—originally a metal breastplate or pair of plates—worn in classical antiquity to protect the region of the heart. Typically circular or square discs, fastened by leather straps, used in Italy from the Villanovan and Etruscan periods (7th century BCE) and later by Roman Republican legionaries and gladiators such as provocatores.
- How do you use cardiophylax in a sentence?
- This is the cardiophylax, or heart protector, which Polybius tells us was worn in his own time by the poorer infantry, those who could not afford chain mail.
- What part of speech is cardiophylax?
- Cardiophylax is a noun.
- How do you pronounce cardiophylax?
- Cardiophylax is pronounced /ˌkɑː.diː.əˈfɪ.laks/ (UK).
- What is the plural of cardiophylax?
- The plural of cardiophylax is cardiophylaxes.
Words near cardiophylax in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: cardiophylax (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “cardiophylax.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cardiophylax. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.