Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A plate of iron worn over the mail to protect the shoulders of a man-at-arms, before the introduction of plate-armor for the body. Ailettes were sometimes charged with heraldic bearings. Also aislette and aileron.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A small square shield, formerly worn on the shoulders of knights, -- being the prototype of the modern epaulet.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A small square shield, formerly worn on the shoulders of knights, being the prototype of the epaulet.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

French ailette, diminutive of aile wing, Latin ala.

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Examples

  • Squires were running hither and thither, or aiding their masters to don armor, lacing helm to hauberk, tying the points of ailette, coude, and rondel; buckling cuisse and jambe to thigh and leg.

    The Outlaw of Torn Edgar Rice Burroughs 1912

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