chappe

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ʃæp/

Etymology 1

From French chappe. Compare chape (from Middle English).

Noun

chappe (plural chappes)

1. A piece, typically of leather, fitted to the crossguard of European swords of the later medieval period, attested mainly in art, of uncertain purpose.

   Synonym: rainguard

   • 1997, R. Ewart Oakeshott, A Knight and His Weapons, page 82:

     […] part of the cross-guard. Often these chappes - a word, incidentally, that means “capes” - were decorated in needlework with the arms or device of the owner.

   • 2013 August 6, J. Bernhardt, The Watchers: End of Paradise, Author House, →ISBN, page 139:

     From the chappe to three fourths the length of the blade runs a pronounced center ridge.

   • 2020 August 11, John Boyne, A Traveler at the Gates of Wisdom: A Novel, Hogarth, →ISBN:

     […] with no passion for warfare, perhaps it was a little incongruous that I had been crafting swords since I was a boy. […] The design of the grip was particularly important to me, as was finding an appropriate jewel for the pommel, and I signed each of my creations with the symbol of the pyramid on the chappe, an autograph to mark the sword as one of my own.

2. Alternative form of chape (“metal at the bottom of a scabbard”)
   • 1997, R. Ewart Oakeshott, A Knight and His Weapons:

     In everyday situations, swords were worn with or carried in a scabbard. […] Until about 1310, no metal fitting was put at the top, only a chappe at the point end to prevent it from wearing away, but after this date there was always […]

   • 1998 November 1, John Clements, Medieval Swordsmanship: Illustrated Methods And Techniques, Paladin Press:

     The chappe helped prevent the scabbard's end from being worn down and kept the sword's tip from poking through. The chappe originally meant a flap extension of the grip itself.

Further reading

• 2020 November 26, Christopher Gravett, The Medieval Knight, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN:

  Called the chappe (literally 'cape'), this flap overlapped the mouth of the scabbard when the weapon was sheathed, and helped prevent water running down inside and rusting the sword. The sword hilt was covered by a grip.

Etymology 2

Noun

chappe (countable and uncountable, plural chappes)

1. Alternative form of schappe (“silk”)

   chappes and spun silks

   • For quotations using this term, see Citations:chappe.

French

Noun

chappe f (plural chappes)

1. Alternative form of chape

Further reading

• “chappe”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.