Word.ws English Dictionary

mesail

/ˈmɛseɪl/

mesail noun: the visor of a helmet, especially when made in two parts.

Noun

mesail (plural mesails)

  1. (historical) The visor of a helmet, especially when made in two parts.
    • The mesail face-defence, still consisting of the visor with its eye-slits and noseguard attached to the helmet by two pivots, could be raised or lowered at will, while the two shell-shaped cheek-pieces formed a bevor or chin [guard].1968, Paul Martin, Armour and Weapons, Random House Business
    • The workmanship is sound, but not fine—portions of a visor and a mesail and a chin-piece of the period of Elizabeth have been added to it.1992, Guy Francis Laking, A Record of European Armour and Arms Through Seven Centuries, page 42

Forms of mesail

pluralmesails
alternative formmezail

Origin of mesail

Probably from Old French muçaille (“concealment”), via French mézail; only attested in English since the 1800s (also spelled mezail, mursail). Alternatively, a connection to muzzle has also been suggested.

Questions about mesail

What does mesail mean?
Mesail means the visor of a helmet, especially when made in two parts.
What part of speech is mesail?
Mesail is a noun.
How do you pronounce mesail?
Mesail is pronounced /ˈmɛseɪl/.
What is the plural of mesail?
The plural of mesail is mesails.

Words near mesail in the dictionary

  1. mesaconine
  2. mesaconitine
  3. mesad
  4. mesader kiddushin
  5. mesaharaty
  6. mesail
  7. mesails
  8. Mesaite
  9. mesal
  10. mesalamine
  11. mesalazine

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: mesail (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: “mesail.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/mesail. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.