chain mail

== English == === Pronunciation === === Etymology 1 === chain + mail; attested since the 1780s. ==== Noun ==== chain mail (usually uncountable, plural chain mails) A flexible defensive armor, made of a mesh of interlinked metal rings. ===== Usage notes ===== When this armor was in common use, it was known simply as mail. The term chain mail dates to the 1780s, and has become a common retronym due to other meanings of mail (like "letters, post", which is not etymologically related) becoming more common, and due to the terms scale mail and plate mail coming into use to denote other forms of armor composed of similar small interlocking pieces. Since at least the 1930s, some people have objected to chain mail as redundant. ===== Alternative forms ===== chainmail ===== Synonyms ===== (armor): mail ===== Hyponyms ===== ===== Coordinate terms ===== (armor): plate mail, scale mail ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === From mail. ==== Noun ==== chain mail (countable and uncountable, plural chain mails) (sometimes collectively) A chain letter. ===== Translations ===== === See also === Mail (armour) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia === References ===