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Glite Dictionary
full plate armor

full plate armor

9.0
A complete suit of metal plates that covers the body and protects a knight in battle
  • noun
  • /fʊl pleɪt ˈɑrmər/
translation icon : armadura completa
  • The museum displayed a suit of full plate armor that was more than six feet tall and very detailed.

Examples

  • During the reenactment, the soldiers wore full plate armor to accurately depict medieval warfare.

  • A medieval knight charged into battle, clad in full plate armor that gleamed in the sunlight.

  • I think I remember reading somewhere that a medieval knight in full plate had approximately 80 to 100 pounds of armor on.

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Synonyms

armor
vsfull plate armor
  • US
358 3.0

A strong metal covering worn in battle to protect the body

is more specific being a full metal protective suit that encases the whole body
body armor
vsfull plate armor
  • Specialized
31 4.1

Clothing made of strong material that protects the body from bullets and blows

is the historical full metal form that surrounds and protects the wearer in combat
suit of armor
vsfull plate armor
  • US
8 7.2

A full set of metal plates that cover the body and protect it in battle, often worn by knights

is a metal protective suit that completely encases the wearer in late medieval Europe
plate armor
vsfull plate armor
  • Specialized
8.0

A suit of metal plates worn by knights for protection in battle

is the historical metal type that fully encases the body for medieval European use

How Protective

full plate armor
9.0
plate armor
  • Specialized
7.7
chain mail
4 8.6

Surface Forms

full plate armor singular
full plate armors plural

Morphology

full + plate + armor

The meaning is directly compositional: 'full' (completely) + 'plate' (flat metal sheets) + 'armor' (protective suit) yields 'armor made entirely of metal plates that encase the body.' This is a literal, cross-linguistically regular combination, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would readily understand the referent.

Etymology

The noun full plate armor comes from the way armor makers joined many metal plates to cover a knight's body completely. Because the plates covered the full body, the name came to mean a complete suit of metal armor.