What does cataphract mean?

Definitions for cataphract
cat·aphract

This dictionary definitions page includes all the possible meanings, example usage and translations of the word cataphract.

Princeton's WordNet

  1. body armor, body armour, suit of armor, suit of armour, coat of mail, cataphractnoun

    armor that protects the wearer's whole body

Wiktionary

  1. cataphractnoun

    Defensive armor used for the entire body and often for the horse, also, especially the linked mail or scale armor of some eastern nations.

  2. cataphractnoun

    A horseman covered with a cataphract.

  3. cataphractnoun

    The armor or plate covering some fishes.

  4. Etymology: From κατάφρακτος; from κατά + φρακτός, from φράσσω

Samuel Johnson's Dictionary

  1. Cataphractnoun

    A horseman in complete armour.

    Etymology: cataphracta, Lat.

    On each side went armed guards,
    Both horse and foot before him and behind,
    Archers and slingers, cataphracts and spears. John Milton, Agonist.

Wikipedia

  1. Cataphract

    A cataphract was a form of armored heavy cavalryman that originated in Persia and was fielded in ancient warfare throughout Eurasia and Northern Africa. The English word derives from the Greek κατάφρακτος kataphraktos (plural: κατάφρακτοι Kataphraktoi), literally meaning "armored" or "completely enclosed" (the prefix kata-/cata- implying "intense" or "completely"). Historically, the cataphract was a very heavily armored horseman, with both the rider and mount almost completely covered in scale armor, and typically wielding a kontos or lance as his primary weapon. Cataphracts served as the elite cavalry force for most empires and nations that fielded them, primarily used for charges to break through opposing heavy cavalry and infantry formations. Chronicled by many historians from the earliest days of antiquity up until the High Middle Ages, they may have influenced the later European knights, through contact with the Eastern Roman Empire.Peoples and states deploying cataphracts at some point in their history included: the Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Parthians, Achaemenids, Sakas, Armenians, Seleucids, Pergamenes, Kingdom of Pontus, Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, Sassanids, Romans, Goths, Byzantines, Georgians, Chinese, Koreans, Jurchens, Mongols, and Songhai. In Europe, the fashion for heavily armored Roman cavalry seems to have been a response to the Eastern campaigns of the Parthians and Sassanids in the region referred to as Asia Minor, as well as numerous defeats at the hands of Iranian cataphracts across the steppes of Eurasia, most notably in the Battle of Carrhae in upper Mesopotamia (53 BC). Traditionally, Roman cavalry was neither heavily-armored nor decisive in effect; the Roman equites corps comprised mainly lightly-armored horsemen bearing spears and swords and using light-cavalry tactics to skirmish before and during battles, and then to pursue retreating enemies after a victory. The adoption of cataphract-like cavalry formations took hold among the late Roman army during the late 3rd and 4th centuries. The Emperor Gallienus Augustus (r. 253–268 AD) and his general and putative usurper Aureolus (died 268) arguably contributed much to the institution of Roman cataphract contingents in the Late Roman army.

ChatGPT

  1. cataphract

    A cataphract was a type of armored heavy cavalry used by ancient warfare civilizations like the Greeks, Persians, and Romans. The term is drawn from the Greek "Kataphraktos" which means "completely enclosed" or "armored", referring to the protective plate or chainmail armor worn by both the rider and the horse.

Webster Dictionary

  1. Cataphractnoun

    defensive armor used for the whole body and often for the horse, also, esp. the linked mail or scale armor of some eastern nations

  2. Cataphractnoun

    a horseman covered with a cataphract

  3. Cataphractnoun

    the armor or plate covering some fishes

  4. Etymology: [L. cataphractes, Gr. , fr. covered, fr. to cover; kata` down, wholly + fra`ssein to inclose.]

Wikidata

  1. Cataphract

    A cataphract was a form of armored Persian heavy cavalry utilised in ancient warfare by a number of peoples in Western Eurasia and the Eurasian Steppe. The word in English is derived from the Greek: κατάφρακτος Kataphraktos, literally meaning "armored" or "completely enclosed". Historically, the cataphract was a very heavily armored Persian Sassanid horseman, with both the rider and steed draped from head to toe in scale armor, while typically wielding a kontos or lance as their weapon. ".. But no sooner had the first light of day appeared, than the glittering coats of mail, girt with bands of steel, and the gleaming cuirasses, seen from afar, showed that the king's forces were at hand." Ammianus Marcellinus, late Roman historian and soldier, describing the sight of Persian cataphracts approaching Roman infantry in Asia Minor, circa fourth century. Cataphracts served as either the elite cavalry or assault force for most empires and nations that fielded them, primarily used for impetuous charges to break through infantry formations. Chronicled by many historians from the earliest days of Antiquity up until the High Middle Ages, they are believed to have given rise in part or wholly to the Age of Feudalism in Europe and the later European equivalents of knights and paladins, via contact with the Byzantine Empire.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary

  1. Cataphract

    kat′a-frakt, n. (Milton) a soldier in full armour. [Gr. kataphraktēs, a coat-of-mail—kata, inten., and phrass-ein, to enclose, protect.]

Military Dictionary and Gazetteer

  1. cataphract

    The old Roman term for a horseman in complete armor.

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Numerology

  1. Chaldean Numerology

    The numerical value of cataphract in Chaldean Numerology is: 5

  2. Pythagorean Numerology

    The numerical value of cataphract in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1


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"cataphract." Definitions.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.definitions.net/definition/cataphract>.

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