Hypertext Webster Gateway: "cuirass"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Cuirass \Cui*rass"\ (kw[-e]*r[.a]s", or kw[=e]"r[a^]s; 277), n.;
pl. {Cuirasses}(-[e^]z). [F. cuirasse, orig., a breastplate
of leather, for OF. cuir['e]e, cuirie influenced by It.
corazza, or Sp. coraza, fr. an assumed LL. coriacea, fr. L.
coriaceus, adj., of leather, fr. corium leather, hide; akin
to Gr. cho`rion intestinal membrane, OSlav. skora hide, Lith.
skura hide, leather. Cf. {Coriaceous}.]
1.
(a) A piece of defensive armor, covering the body from the
neck to the girdle.
(b) The breastplate taken by itself.
Note: The cuirass covered the body before and behind. It
consisted of two parts, a breast- and backpiece of iron
fastened together by means of straps and buckles or
other like contrivances. It was originally, as the name
imports, made of leather, but afterward of metal.
--Grose.
2. (Zo["o]l) An armor of bony plates, somewhat resembling a
cuirass.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
cuirass
n : medieval body armor that covers the chest and back
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