plastron
/ˈplæstɹən/ noun
Forms plastrons
- noun (zoology) The nearly flat part of the shell structure of a tortoise or other animal, similar in composition to the carapace.
- noun (fencing) A half-jacket worn under the jacket for padding or for safety.
- noun A man's shirt-bosom.
- noun An ornamental front panel on a woman's bodice.
- noun A breastplate.
- noun A film of air trapped by specialized hairs against the body of an aquatic insect, and which acts as an external gill. “The plastron of a diving beetle is not directly a source of oxygen, but acts as a gill, acquiring oxygen from the surrounding water.”
Etymology
Borrowed from French plastron, from Italian piastrone, augmentive of piastra (“breastplate”), from Latin emplastrum (“plaster”), from Ancient Greek ἔμπλαστρον (émplastron), from ἔμπλαστος (émplastos, “daubed, plastered”), from ἔμπλασσειν (émplassein, “to mould, form”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A piece of leather stuffed or padded, worn by fencers to protect the breast. Dryden.
- noun An iron breastplate, worn under the hauberk.
Etymology [F. plastron breastplate, plastron, LL. plastra a thin plate of metal. See Plaster.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “plastron”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details