Glossary
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The Royal Armouries Glossary is designed to explain some of the specialist arms and armour terms you may find on this website. It is by no means exhaustive and we strive to continually add to it.
Words are listed alphabetically – to browse the glossary choose a letter from A to Z above.
A
Agemaki 総角 Ornate bow tied in a square knot, attached to the back of an armour (Japan)
Akoda nari kabuto 阿古陀形兜 Form of helmet with a bulbous swelling at the upper rear of the skull (Japan)
Aikuchi 匕首 Dagger without a guard (Japan)
Almain rivet: A light half armour of plate for infantry, usually made in Germany, popular in the early–mid 16th century.
Anime: A form of cuirass, made of narrow horizontal plates or lames articulated together inside either with rivets or leathers or a combination of both to allow the wearer some movement, popular in the middle of the 16th century.
Armet: A form of helmet fully enclosing the head, with cheekpieces at either side which fasten together at the front and allow the helmet to be put on or taken off, and a visor, popular in the 15th–early 17th centuries.
Ashi 足 ‘legs’ of nioi extending from the hamon to the edge (Japan)
Ashi Suspension loop on a tachi scabbard (Japan)
B
Bacinet: A form of helmet protecting the skull of the head, worn with an aventail of mail protecting the throat and neck, and often with a plate visor, from the 13th–early 15th century, which evolved into the great bacinet.
Backplate: The rear plate of a cuirass, worn with a breastplate.
Ballock dagger: One whose hilt is in the form of male genitalia.
Bard: Defence of plate, mail or other forms of armour for a horse.
Base: A pleated skirt of rich fabric worn as part of male costume, often with armour, or of plate and part of an armour, fashionable in the early 16th century.
Basilisk: A large type of cannon, usually of bronze and of considerable length in proportion to the diameter of its bore.
Basket hilt: A sword hilt formed of a network of iron strips or bars forge welded together to form a guard enveloping the hand of the user.
Bellows visor: a form of visor embossed with horizontal ridges, hence resembling a bellows, popular in the early 16th century.
Bevor: A defence of plate for the throat and front of the face, worn in the 15th century with a sallet as a separate defence, in the 16th century as an integral part of a close helmet.
Bill: A staff weapon with a long hooked blade, sharpened on the inside and often with an additional spike on the back and at the top. Derived from the agricultural implement of the same name.
Bishamon gote 毘沙門篭手 Armoured sleeves with a shoulder guard permanently attached to the upper arm (Japan)
Boshi 帽子 Shape of the hamon within the kissaki of a blade (Japan)
Breastplate: The front plate of a cuirass, worn with a backplate.
Brigandine: A defence of iron plates riveted inside a fabric doublet, popular in the 15th–early 16th centuries.
Brow plate: A reinforcing plate at the upper front of a helmet.
Buckler: A small, circular shield.
Buffe: A defence of plate for the throat and front of the face, used in the 16th century with a burgonet.
Burgonet: An open faced helmet with hinged cheekpieces, often worn with a buffe.
Burgonion Cross: The Burgundian Cross; a crest formed of two ragged, or rustic, wooden staves behind a fire-steel.
Bushi 武士 Member of the military class (Japan)
C
Cannon: In plate armour, one of the tubular defences in a Vambrace of plate, either for the upper arm (upper cannon) or forearm (lower cannon).
Cartridge: A tubular container holding a measured charge of gunpowder sufficient for one firing of a gun. It might or might not also contain a lead ball or other projectile.
Choji 丁子 Clove shaped, of a hamon (Japan)
Close helmet: A form of helmet fully enclosing the head, with a visor and bevor (or upper and lower bevors) pivoted at either side of the skull to allow the helmet to be put on or taken off, popular in the late 15th –16th centuries.
Codpiece: Groin defence for an armour, usually worn only when fighting on foot.
Combination weapon: One in which two or more types of weapon are combined in order to be used together.
Coronel: A lance head, usually of iron, formed with a point in the form of three or more short blunt spikes and used in the ‘Gestech’ or joust of peace.
Corsèque: A staff weapon whose head is formed of one central symmetrical spear-like blade flanked by two others of almost similar size.
*Couter:* Elbow defence for a plate armour.
Crinet: Plate defence for a horse’s neck.
Crupper: Plate defence for a horse’s rump.
Cuirass: Defence for the thorax, part of a plate armour or worn separately, comprising a breastplate and backplate.
Cuisse: Defence for the thigh in a plate armour.
Culet: Defence for the rump in a plate armour.
Culverin: A type of cannon which, like the basilisk, was usually of cast bronze and long in proportion to its bore diameter.
Curette: Archaic term for a cuirass.
D
Daikyu 大弓 longbow (Japan)
Daimyo 大名 Feudal territorial lord (Japan)
Daisho 大小 Pair of long and short swords in matching mountings (Japan)
Damascening: A technique of decoration in which grooves forming a design are cut into the surface of a piece of metal, usually iron. Gold or silver wire is then hammered into these grooves and filed smooth, leaving the desired design inlaid into the surface.
Demi-cannon: The second largest, after the cannon, of the types of artillery piece commonly in use in the 16th and 17th centuries. Usually of cast bronze.
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.
E
ebira 箙 quiver (Japan), the early open framed type.
Enceinte: The continuous line of walls and bastions surrounding a fortification.
Estoc or Tuck: A type of sword with a long stiff blade of square or triangular section capable of being used only for thrusting.
Etchu zunari kabuto 越中頭陀形兜 Head-shaped helmet with a broad plate running over the centre overlapping the brow plate (Japan)
F
False damascening: A decorative technique in which the surface of a piece of metal, usually iron, is very finely roughened by cross-hatching with a special tool. Carefully shaped pieces of gold or silver are then hammered onto this roughened surface and held there to form the required design.
Fire-steel (or fusye): A piece of hardened steel against which a piece of natural flint may be struck to create sparks to ignite tinder. In heraldry fire-steels are usually rendered as a rectangular bar with a ram’s horn curl at each end.
Flanchard: Plate defence for a horse’s flanks.
Fletchings: The flights of an arrow, made from three pinion feathers taken from the wing of a large bird, such as a goose or peacock.
Forte: The stiffest part of a sword blade closest to the hilt.
Fuchi 縁 Fitting at the base of the hilt (Japan)
Fukigayeshi 吹返 Turnbacks of the front ends of the upper plate of the neckguard (Japan)
Funbari 踏ん張り Blade tapering at the base (Japan)
Furoshiki 風呂敷 Wrapping cloth (Japan)
Fuller: A groove in a sword or dagger blade, made to lighten and stiffen it.
G
Garniture: Plate armour with interchangeable parts and extra pieces (or ‘pieces of exchange’) to enable it to be worn for different tournament events, such as the tilt, tourney or foot combat, or battlefield (‘field’) use, as heavy or light cavalry or as infantry.
Gendaitō現代刀 ‘Military era swords’ (Japan), 1876–1953
Gessan 下散 Defence for the hips and thighs suspended from the lower edge of the cuirass, see kusazuri (Japan)
Gestech: The German term for the Joust of Peace.
Gokuden 五口伝 The ‘five traditions’ of sword making before 1600 (Japan): Yamato (Nara), Bizen (Okayama), Yamashiro (Kyoto), Soshu (Tokyo) and Mino (Gifu)
Go mai dō 五枚筒 Cuirass divided into five sections (Japan)
Gorget (or collar): a plate defence for the neck, worn under the cuirass additionally helping to distribute the weight of the armour.
Grandguard: Plate reinforce for the left shoulder and left side of the face, worn with tilt armour.
Great bacinet: A form of helmet enveloping the head, neck and throat, with a plate visor, from the late 14–early 16th century, evolved from the bacinet.
Greave: Plate defence for the lower leg.
Guard: The part of a sword hilt designed to provide protection for the hand of the user (eg, knuckle guard).
Gunome 互目 Undulating, of a hamon (Japan)
Gusoku 具足 ‘equipment’, term for an armour after 1600, see tosei gusoku (Japan)
Gyoyo 杏葉 Leaf-shaped plate suspended at the shoulder (Japan)
H
Ha 刃 Cutting edge of a sword (Japan)
Habaki 鎺 Collar around the base of the blade (Japan)
hachi 鉢 Skull of a helmet (Japan)
Hada 肌 Grain visible on a blade (Japan)
hadome Cross guard fitted to a spear shaft (Japan)
haidate 佩楯 Defences for the thighs, tied around the waist (Japan)
Halberd: A staff weapon whose head has an axe-like cutting blade, a shorter hooked blade, or fluke, at the rear, and a vertical spike for thrusting.
Hamon 刃文 Temper pattern on the edge of a blade (Japan)
haramaki 腹巻 Lamellar armour which closes at the back (Japan). Most important collection of early examples at Oyamazumi Jinja, Omishima.
Harikake kabuto Helmet with permanent additions of lacquered paper or leather (Japan)
Harness: An alternative word for a plate armour.
Harquebus: A light form of infantry musket.
Helm: A cylindrical head defence, by the 14th century extending to the shoulders and frequently secured to the cuirass by straps, redundant on the battlefield by the late 14th century but still used in the tournament in the 16th century (see tilting helm).
Hi 樋 Groove on a blade (Japan)
hinawaju 火縄銃 Matchlock harquebus (Japan)
Hineno zunari kabuto 日根野頭陀形兜 Head-shaped helmet with a broad plate running over the centre overlapped by the brow plate (Japan)
Hineri maki Common style of hilt binding where the two strands of ito are twisted at the crossover (Japan)
Hira zukuri 平造 Blade without a ridge (Japan)
hirumaki Spear butt (Japan)
hoate 頰当 Face mask without a nose defence (Japan)
hoko Early type of spear (Japan)
Holy water sprinkler: A type of long-hafted club whose head was fitted with short iron spikes. A term used popularly for a weapon thought to resemble the club-like aspergillum used by priests to sprinkle holy water.
Horimono Decorative carving (Japan)
horo 幌 Balloon-like cape worn at the rear of an armour (Japan)
hoshi 星 Rivet (literally ‘star’) (Japan)
I
Iori mune 庵棟 Blade with a ridge at the back (Japan)
ishime Matt finish on metalwork (Japan)
ita 板 plate (Japan)
Itame 板目 Wood grain in a blade (Japan), itame hada, wood grain surface grain pattern
Iyo zane Broad scales assembled with almost no overlap (Japan)
J
Jack of plate: A textile doublet into which small square iron plates were sewn for additional protection, popular in Britain in the 16th century.
Jinbaori 陣羽織 Textile surcoat worn over armour (Japan)
Jizo ‘Priest’s head’ shape (Japan)
Jumonji yari Spear with additional branching blades, in the form of the number ten (Japan)
K
Kabuto 兜 helmet (Japan)
Kabuto gane Tachi style pommel cap (Japan)
Kaen Boshi resembling flames (Japan)
Kaeri 返り The part of the boshi along the back of the blade (Japan)
Kaiken 懐剣 Dagger carried by wives of samurai (Japan)
Kaji 鍛冶 swordsmith (Japan)
Kaku gata Square, of a tsuba (Japan)
kamon 家紋 Heraldic device, see mon (Japan)
Kanamono 金物 Decorative metal fittings (Japan)
karabitsu 唐櫃 Lacquered armour storage box (Japan)
Kao Personal seal mark (Japan)
Karakusa Scrolling tendril ornament (Japan)
Kashira 頭 Fitting at the top (pommel) of a hilt (Japan)
Kashiragane 頭がね Hole in the kashira where the tsukaito is tied (Japan)
Katana 刀 Long sword worn edge upwards in the sash (Japan)
Katana kake 刀懸 Sword rack (Japan)
Katate maki Hilt binding with hineri maki at either end, and a single strand wrapped round the central section
katchu 甲冑 armour (Japan)
katchushi 甲冑師 armourer (Japan)
Kebiki odoshi 毛引縅 Close-set lacing of an armour (Japan)
keiko 拄甲 Lamellar armour (Japan), of the continental Asian type introduced in the 6th century AD.
Ken 剣 Double edged straight sword (Japan), see jian, (China)
Kikko 亀甲 ‘Tortoise shell’, type of brigandine of hexagonal plates sewn inside fabric (Japan)
Kissaki 切先 The point section of a blade (Japan), usually described as ko (small), chu (medium) or ō (large
Kogai 笄 Instrument for dressing the hair, carried in a pocket on the face of a scabbard (Japan)
Kogatana 小刀 Small utility knife carried in a pocket on the face of a scabbard (Japan)
kohire 小ひれ Armoured flaps attached to the shoulder straps (Japan)
Koiguchi 鯉口 Scabbard throat (Japan), often with a horn fitting.
Kojiri Tip of the scabbard (Japan)
Ko maru 小丸 Boshi with a small turnback of the hamon within the kissaki (Japan)
Koshi ate 腰當 Pad to protect the left hip from rubbing by the sword (Japan)
koshimaki 腰巻 ‘Waist band’, band riveted to the base of the helmet skull (Japan)
Koshi zori 腰反 Blade with the deepest part of the curve nearest the tang (Japan)
Koshira-e 拵え Sword mountings (Japan), also tōsōgu 刀装具
Kote 篭手 Armoured sleeve (Japan)
kozane 小札 Armour scale (Japan)
Koto 古刀 Sword made before 1600 (Japan)
Kozuka 小柄 Hilt of a utility knife (Japan)
Kuda yari Spear pipe, hand guard for a spear (Japan)
Kurigata 栗形 Projection on the face of the scabbard to hold a braid tie (Japan)
Kuri jiri Chestnut-shaped tang end (Japan)
kusari 鎖 mail (Japan)
kusazuri 草摺 Defence for the hips and thighs suspended from the lower edge of the cuirass, see also gessan (Japan)
kuwagata 鍬形 Horn-like fore-crest attached to a helmet (Japan)
Kyudo 弓道 archery (Japan)
L
Lames: small plates of iron or steel used in a plate armour for protecting articulated joints or sections, joined by rivets or internal leathers either to larger plate components or to other lames (see anime for example).
Lantern shot: An anti-personnel artillery round. A tubular container made of slats of wood which was filled with sharp stones. It was designed to break up on firing causing the stones to spread out and cause the maximum damage to opposing troops.
Locking Gauntlet: A plate gauntlet used in the tourney in which the finger-plates were fastened to an extension of the inner cuff plate, locking a weapon in the hand.
Lower Cannon: Plate defence for the forearm, see cannon.
M
maedate 前立 Fore-crest attached to a helmet (Japan)
Magari yari Spear with additional branching blade (Japan)
Makura yari Short ‘pillow’ spear (Japan)
Manifer: Plate reinforce for the left hand and forearm, worn with tilt armour.
Match cord: A twisted hemp cord impregnated with saltpetre (potassium nitrate), enabling it to smoulder evenly when lit to provide ignition for hand-held firearms or artillery pieces.
Match lock: A mechanical device fitted to the side of a firearm to hold a piece of match cord and, on pulling a trigger, to place the smouldering end of the cord into the pan to ignite the priming powder and fire the gun.
‘Maximilian’: A modern term applied to fluted armour of a style which became popular in German lands in the early 16th century, when Maximilian I was Holy Roman Emperor, inspired by the narrow pleating of civilian clothes fashionable at
that time.
mempo 面頬 Face mask (Japan)
Mogami haramaki Style of armour in which the plates are individually hinged (Japan)
mon 紋 Heraldic device, see kamon (Japan)
Mune-ita 胸板 Plate covering the upper chest (Japan)
N
nagaye Spear shaft (Japan)
naginata glaive (Japan)
nakagawa Rows of lameller armour encircling the torso (Japan)
Ni mai do 二板筒 Cuirass divided into two sections, front and rear (Japan)
Nock: The horn tip found on either end of a longbow to protect the wood from the chafing of the bowstring, or; the notch in the rear end of an arrow to enable it to be fitted to a bowstring.
O
Oda gote Armoured sleeves with gourd-shaped plates sewn on the upper and lower arm (Japan)
odoshi 縅 lacing (Japan)
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 (Japan). Most important collections are preserved at Itsukushima Jinja, Hiroshima, and the Kasuga Taisha, Nara.
P
Partizan: A staff weapon with a long symmetrical two-edged thrusting blade, at the base of which are two short upward-curved wings or lugs.
Pasguard: Plate reinforce for the left elbow, worn with tilt armour.
Pauldron: Plate defence for the shoulder with wings extending over the cuirass at front and rear.
Peytral: Plate defence for a horse’s front.
Pike: A long staff weapon, up to 18 feet (6m) long, with a small iron head and capable only of being used to thrust. Often used by closely ranked bodies of infantry.
Plackart: Reinforcing breastplate worn over the breastplate, often for the Tournament.
Pointillé: A technique, usually on metal, of using lines of finely punched dots to created decorative motifs.
Poleyn: Plate defence for the knee.
Pollaxe: A staff weapon with a striking part in the form of an axe blade or a rectangular or triangular group of three or four short spikes. The back of the head has a short spike or a serrated hammer face, while the top of the heads is fitted with a thrusting spike.
Port piece: A wrought iron breech-loading artillery piece.
Punchion spear: A type of spear with a head in the form of a spike, suitable only for thrusting.
Q
Quillon: A guard projecting from the hilt of a sword or dagger usually at 90 degrees to the centre line of the blade at the point where the sword and hilt meet.
R
renjaku Heavy silk cords inside the shoulder straps of a do, acting as a form of suspension (Japan)
Raguly crosses: Raguly is the heraldic term for ragged, meaning rustic. See Burgonion Cross.
Ricasso: A blunted area of rectangular section formed in a sword or dagger blade adjacent to the hilt.
roku mai dō 六板筒 Cuirass divided into six sections (Japan)
Rondel: A circular disk. in plate armour often attached to an armet to protect the strap of the wrapper, or to a manifer or shaffron.
Ryo takahimo dō Cuirass made in two sections fastened with ties at either side (Japan)
S
Sabaton: Plate defence for the foot.
Sabi nuri Lacquer finish imitating russet iron (Japan)
Sageo 下げ緒 Flat braid used to tie the sword into the sash (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.
Saker: One of the lighter types of artillery barrel, usually of cast bronze. Named after the saker, a large species of falcon.
Saki zori 前反り Curve most pronounced towards the point of a blade (Japan)
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.
samurai Military retainers of a feudal lord (Japan)
Same 鮫 Ray skin, used on the sides of the hilt under the binding (Japan)
sane Scale or lamella (Japan)
sashimono Small flag attached to the rear of an armour (Japan)
Sasumata 刺股 Forked spear (Japan)
Saya 鞘 Scabbard (Japan)
Sei ita Armour section forming the centre back of a haramaki (Japan)
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.
Sengoku jidai 戦国時代 The age of the country at war, 1470-1603 (Japan)
Seppa 切羽 Washer at either side of the sword guard (Japan)
Shaffron: Plate defence for a horse’s head.
Shaku 尺 One ‘foot’, equivalent to 303 mm (Japan)
Shakudo 赤銅 Glossy black alloy of copper and gold used in decorative metalwork (Japan)
shikoro Neck guard of a helmet (Japan)
shinodare Decorative strips riveted to a helmet skull (Japan)
Shino gote Armoured sleeve with splints on the forearm (Japan)
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
Shinsakuto 新作刀 Modern sword (Japan), made after 1953.
Shishi 石獅 Chinese lion (Japan)
Shinto 新刀 Sword made 1600–1780 (Japan)
Shinshinto Sword made towards the end of the Edo period, 1781– 1876(Japan)
Shirosaya 白鞘 ‘white scabbard’, hilt and scabbard of plain wood in which a blade is stored (Japan)
Shitogi Shaped like a rice cake, of a tsuba (Japan)
Shogun 将軍 Military ruler of Japan (Japan)
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 nature 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.
sode Shoulder defence (Japan)
Sode garami 袖搦 Sleeve entangler (Japan)
somen Face defence covering the whole face (Japan)
Sori 反り Curve of a blade (Japan)
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.
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.
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.
Stechzeug: The German term for an armour specially made for the Joust of Peace or Gestech.
Suguha 直刃 Straight hamon (Japan)
Suji kabuto 筋兜 Ribbed helmet (Japan)
Sukashi tsuba 透かし鍔 Sword guard with pierced decoration (Japan)
Sugake odoshi 素懸縅 ‘sparse lacing’, spaced pairs of braids are used to hold the plates together (Japan)
suneate Shin defences (Japan)
T
Tachi 太刀 Long sword slung edge down at the left side (Japan), 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
Tang: The narrow tapered section of a sword or dagger blade onto which the hilt is fitted.
Tanko Laced plate armour (Japan), of the type introduced from Korea in the 5th century
Tanto 短刀 Dagger (Japan), literally short sword, under 1 shaku in length
Tasset: Plate defence for the upper thigh, usually formed of articulated lames.
Tatami gusoku Folding armour (Japan)
tehen Hole at the apex of a helmet skull (Japan)
Tehen kanamono Decorative metal rim surrounding the tehen (Japan)
teppo 鉄砲 Matchlock harquebus (Japan), literally ‘iron gun’
Tilting Helm: A form of helm adapted with heavy plates for use in the tilt, popular in the 15th and early 16th centuries.
Toe Cap: The plate defence for the toes, usually used with mail rather than plate sabatons.
Tonlet: A rare term popular in the early 16th century for the laminated base of an armour specially made of the foot combat.
Torimono sandogu Police weapons (Japan)
Tori zori Curve deepest at the centre of a blade (Japan)
Tosei gusoku ‘modern equipment’, non-lamellar armour introduced in the 16th century (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.
Tsuba 鍔 Sword guard (Japan)
Tsuka 柄 Hilt of a sword (Japan)
Tsukaito 柄糸 Braid binding round the tsuka (Japan)
Tsukubo 突棒 Spiked push pole (Japan)
Tsumami maki Hilt binding where both strands of ito are pinched over at the crossover (Japan)
Tsunagi 繋ぎ Wooden blade on which sword mounts are stored to retain their shape (Japan)
U
Ubu 初 Original, usually of the tang of a blade (Japan)
Uchigatana 打刀 Early form of katana (Japan)
Uchiko 打ち粉 Powder used in sword cleaning (Japan)
Uchi ne Feathered dart (Japan)
Upper cannon: Plate defence for the upper arm, see cannon.
Ura 裏 Inner side of a blade as worn (Japan)
Utsubo 靫 Quiver (Japan), the later fully-enclosed cylindrical type
V
Vambrace: Plate defence for the arm, see upper cannon, couter and lower cannon.
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.
Ventral Plate: A rare component of plate armour worn inside the cuirass and designed to help distribute the weight of the harness.
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.
W
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)
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.
Wrapper: Plate reinforce for the face of an armet, fastened with a leather strap round the back of the neck.
X
Y
ya 矢 arrow (Japan)
yabusame 流鏑馬 Horse archery (Japan)
Yakiba 焼き刃 Hardened edge of the blade (Japan)
Yamagane Unrefined copper (Japan)
Yari 槍 spear (Japan)
Yari kake Spear rack (Japan)
Yokote 横手 Dividing line between the kissaki and the body of the blade (Japan)
yoroi armour (Japan)
Yukinoshita dō Go mai dō made of solid plates joined by external hinges (Japan)
Yumi 弓 longbow (Japan)
Z
Zunari kabuto Head shaped helmet (Japan)