Dictionary

main de fer en · NOUN

Etymology

From Middle English mayndefer, from Middle French main de fer (literally “hand of iron”).

Meanings

1. (alt-of, alternative, historical, obsolete, uncommon) Alternative form of manifer (“gauntlet for jousting”).
   alt of manifer
   • […] 181 yds. yellow satin, at 8s., for bordering the 4 gentlemen's bards and bases; 3 yds. crimson satin, at 9s., for lining a headpiece, a pasguard, a main de fer and 2 gauntlets; 1 yd. white sarsnet, for girdles, 3s. 1522 March, record, in 1867, Calendar of state papers, pages 1557-8: also in 2015, J. S. Brewer, Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, Cambridge University Press, page 1557-8
   • Armour of Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, with the Grand-guard, Pasguard, and Main de fer for the tilt. This armour, now in the Tower of London, was made 1566-1588. 1901, Hedley Peek, Frederick George Aflalo, The Encyclopædia of Sport: SAND-Z, page 398, caption on an image:

Forms