Poleyns

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Pieces of plate armor that covered and protected the knee joint, worn by knights and soldiers in the medieval and early modern periods
2. Metal knee guards forming part of a suit of armor, used to shield the kneecap and joint in battle
3. Armored plates fitted over the knee as part of a full suit of medieval or Renaissance war armor

Etymology: Knee armour came in the Middle Ages with a surprising link to shoes. The word "poleyn" was first recorded in Middle English around 1388 for a plate protecting the knee and fastened to the thigh piece, and it was borrowed from Anglo-Norman "polein", which carried the same sense. Its exact origin is uncertain, but it may be connected to "poulaine", the French name for a shoe with a long, pointed toe. That shoe was fashionable in the late Middle Ages and was named, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, after its supposed Polish origin: "poulaine" comes from the feminine of "poulain", meaning Polish. The English form "poleyn" was used for the shoe in the 1460s, before the armour sense faded from view.