Copy of `Royal Armouries - medieval weaponry`

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Royal Armouries - medieval weaponry Category: History and Culture > Medieval warfare Date & country: 04/09/2015, UK Words: 348

Dō 筒
Cuirass (Japan)

Dōmaru 筒丸
Lamellar cuirass which fastens under the right arm (Japan). The most important collection of early examples is at the Oyamazumi Jinja Omishima.

O-yoroi 大鎧
‘Great armour’, lamellar armour made with a cuirass of three sections, and a separate section covering the right side, laced with silk braid or leather. Important collections are preserved at Itsukushima Jinja, Hiroshima, and the Kasuga Taisha, Nara.

Yumi 弓
Longbow (Japan)

Yabusame 流鏑馬
Horse archery (Japan)

Yakiba 焼き刃
Hardened edge of the blade (Japan)

Yamagane
Unrefined copper (Japan)

Yoroi
Armour (Japan)

Yokote 横手
Dividing line between the kissaki and the body of the blade (Japan)

Yukinoshita dō
Go mai dō made of solid plates joined by external hinges (Japan)

Wrapper
Plate reinforce for the face of an armet fastened with a leather strap round the back of the neck.

Ya 矢
Arrow (Japan)

Yari kake
Spear rack (Japan)

Yari 槍
Spear (Japan)

White Tower
The central Norman keep at the Tower of London

Wheellock
An ignition mechanism for firearms using a spring-driven steel wheel to generate sparks from a piece of iron pyrites to ignite the priming powder.

Vent
The touch-hole near the rear or breech of the barrel through which the powder charge of a cannon or other firearm was fired.

Visor
Plate defence for the face usually pierced with sights and usually pivoted at either side so it could be opened when not in action.

Wakidate
Crests attached to the sides of a helmet (Japan)

Wakizashi 脇差
Short sword worn edge upwards thrust through the sash with a katana (Japan)

Ventral Plate
A rare component of plate armour worn inside the cuirass and designed to help distribute the weight of the harness.

Vambrace
Plate defence for the arm see upper cannon couter and lower cannon.

Utsubo 靫
Quiver (Japan) the later fully-enclosed cylindrical type

Ura 裏
Inner side of a blade as worn (Japan)

Upper cannon
Plate defence for the upper arm see cannon.

Tsukubo 突棒
Spiked push pole (Japan)

Tsumami maki
Hilt binding where both strands of ito are pinched over at the crossover (Japan)

Tsuba 鍔
Sword guard (Japan)

Tsuka 柄
Hilt of a sword (Japan)

Ubu 初
Original usually of the tang of a blade (Japan)

Uchi ne
Feathered dart (Japan)

Uchigatana 打刀
Early form of katana (Japan)

Uchiko 打ち粉
Powder used in sword cleaning (Japan)

Tsukaito 柄糸
Braid binding round the tsuka (Japan)

Trunnions
Pairs of cylindrical lugs formed one on each side near the point of balance of a cannon barrel to support it and to enable it to be elevated or depressed for firing at different ranges.

Treasurer of Ordnance
Senior Officer responsible for Ordnance Office finances until the office was abolished in 1837 and the functions transferred to the Paymaster General’s Office

Tsunagi 繋ぎ
Wooden blade on which sword mounts are stored to retain their shape (Japan)

Torimono sandogu
Police weapons (Japan)

Tosei gusoku
‘modern equipment’, non-lamellar armour introduced in the 16th century (Japan)

Tori zori
Curve deepest at the centre of a blade (Japan)

Tonlet
A rare term popular in the early 16th century for the laminated base of an armour specially made of the foot combat.

Toe Cap
The plate defence for the toes usually used with mail rather than plate sabatons.

Tehen kanamono
Decorative metal rim surrounding the tehen (Japan)

Temporary Clerk
Non-permanent clerical officer and not part of the Civil Establishment

Tehen
Hole at the apex of a helmet skull (Japan)

Tilting Helm
A form of helm adapted with heavy plates for use in the tilt popular in the 15th and early 16th centuries.

Tower of London
Royal palace and fortress on the north bank of the Thames within the modern borough of Tower Hamlets and home to the Principal Storekeeper’s Department Surveyor General’s Department Clerk of the Ordnance Clerk of Deliveries and Treasurer of Ordnance

Tang
The narrow tapered section of a sword or dagger blade onto which the hilt is fitted.

Tachi 太刀
Long sword slung edge down at the left side, 2–3 shaku in length

Tamahagane 玉鋼
Mixture of iron steel and slag used in sword forging (Japan)

Tameshigiri 試し切り
Testing of a sword often on a corpse (Japan)

Tanegashima 種子島
Matchlock harquebus (Japan) named after the place where they were first made

Teppo 鉄砲
Matchlock harquebus (Japan) literally

Tasset
Plate defence for the upper thigh usually formed of articulated lames.

Tanto 短刀
Dagger (Japan) literally short sword under 1 shaku in length

Suguha 直刃
Straight hamon (Japan)

Suji kabuto 筋兜
Ribbed helmet (Japan)

Sugake odoshi 素懸縅
‘sparse lacing’, spaced pairs of braids are used to hold the plates together (Japan)

Tatami gusoku
Folding armour (Japan)

Tanko
Laced plate armour (Japan) of the type introduced from Korea in the 5th century

Sukashi tsuba 透かし鍔
Sword guard with pierced decoration (Japan)

Station
An Ordnance establishment either within Great Britain or abroad

Stechzeug
The German term for an armour specially made for the Joust of Peace or Gestech.

Surveyor General of Ordnance
Senior Officer responsible for the quality and efficiency of Ordnance Office supplies of arms and military equipment

Superannuation
Pension granted to established members of the civil establishment on their retirement

Suneate
Shin defences (Japan)

Sori 反り
Curve of a blade (Japan)

Sode
Shoulder defence (Japan)

Splints
Simple plate arm defences or vambraces comprising spaudlers upper and lower cannons and couters covering only the outside of the arm and articulated by internal leathers and rivets.

Spear
A staff weapon with a symmetrical two-edged head primarily intended for thrusting. Used at times by both infantry and cavalry either of whom might occasionally throw it at an enemy.

Spaudler
Plate defence for the shoulder in the form of a narrow series of plates and lames covering only the outside of the arm and cap of the shoulder.

Somen
Face defence covering the whole face (Japan)

Sode garami 袖搦
Sleeve entangler (Japan)

Shino gote
Armoured sleeve with splints on the forearm (Japan)

Shaffron
Plate defence for a horse

Sights
Slots pierced in the front of helmets or their visors (and sometimes bevors and buffes) which allowed the wearer to see out.

Sling
A relatively small piece of artillery often of wrought iron long in relation to its bore diameter. A term often applied to breech-loading swivel guns i.e. Those small enough to be mounted on a pivot or swivel placed into a socket in the gunwhale of a ship

Shikoro
Neck guard of a helmet (Japan)

Shakudo 赤銅
Glossy black alloy of copper and gold used in decorative metalwork (Japan)

Shinshinto
Sword made towards the end of the Edo period 1781

Shinto 新刀
Sword made 1600

Shinogi 鎬
Ridge running along the side of the blade (Japan), shinogi zukuri 鎬造, blade with such a ridge; shinogi ji, the flat of the blade between the shinogi and the mune

Shinodare
Decorative strips riveted to a helmet skull (Japan)

Shaku 尺
One ‘foot’, equivalent to 303 mm (Japan)

Shinsakuto 新作刀
Modern sword (Japan) made after 1953.

Shishi 石獅
Chinese lion (Japan)

Shitogi
Shaped like a rice cake of a tsuba (Japan)

Shirosaya 白鞘
‘white scabbard’, hilt and scabbard of plain wood in which a blade is stored (Japan)

Senior Clerk
Top-ranking clerical officer

Seppa 切羽
Washer at either side of the sword guard (Japan)

Sengoku jidai 戦国時代
The age of the country at war 1470-1603 (Japan)

Sei ita
Armour section forming the centre back of a haramaki (Japan)

Shogun 将軍
Military ruler of Japan (Japan)

Sabre
A sword with a long curved single-edged blade.

Saddle Steel
Plate covering for the tree of a saddle; the front section is called the bow the central part of which is the pommel the rear section the cantle or arson.

Sabi nuri
Lacquer finish imitating russet iron (Japan)

Sabaton
Plate defence for the foot.

Serpentine
One of the smaller natures of artillery piece of bronze or iron long in proportion to the diameter of the bore. Often but not invariably breech-loading. Also a late 15th-century term for a type of fine soft gunpowder.

Sallet
A form of helmet covering the crown and sides of the head and flaring over the nape of the neck, often fitted with a visor and worn with a bevor, popular in the 15th–early 16th centuries.

Saki zori 前反り
Curve most pronounced towards the point of a blade (Japan)