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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Cataphract

Cataphract \Cat"a*phract\ (k[a^]t"[.a]*fr[a^]kt), n. [L. cataphractes, Gr. ?, fr. ? covered, fr. ? to cover; kata` down, wholly + fra`ssein to inclose.]

  1. (Mil. Antiq.) 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. A horseman covered with a cataphract.

    Archers and slingers, cataphracts, and spears.
    --Milton.

  3. (Zo["o]l.) The armor or plate covering some fishes.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
cataphract

"coat of mail," Middle English, from Latin cataphractes "breastplate of iron scales," from Greek kataphraktes "coat of mail," from kataphraktos "covered up," from kataphrassein "to fortify," from kata "entirely" (see cata-) + phrassein "to fence around, enclose, defend" (see diaphragm).

Wiktionary
cataphract

n. 1 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 A horseman covered with a cataphract. 3 The armor or plate covering some fishes.

WordNet
cataphract

n. armor that protects the wearer's whole body [syn: body armor, body armour, suit of armor, suit of armour, coat of mail]

Wikipedia
Cataphract

A cataphract was a form of armored heavy cavalry used in ancient warfare by a number of peoples in Western Eurasia and the Eurasian Steppe.

The English word is derived from the Greek (plural: ), literally meaning "armored" or "completely enclosed". Historically, the cataphract was a very heavily armored 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.

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 influenced the later European knights, via contact with the Byzantine Empire.

Notable peoples and states deploying cataphracts at some point in their history include: the Scythians, Sarmatians, Parthian army, Achaemenid army, Sakas, Armenian army, Seleucids, Pergamenes, the Sassanid army, the Roman army, the Goths and the Byzantine army. In several cases the term is used to denote a Parthian chariot.

In the West, 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 cataphracts across the steppes of Eurasia, the most notable of which is the Battle of Carrhae. Traditionally, Roman cavalry was neither heavily armored nor all that effective; the Roman Equites corps were composed mainly of lightly armored horsemen bearing spears and swords to chase down stragglers and to rout enemies. The adoption of cataphract-like cavalry formations took hold amongst the late Roman army during the late 3rd and 4th centuries. The Emperor Gallienus Augustus (253–268 AD) and his general and would-be usurper Aureolus bear much of the responsibility for the institution of Roman cataphract contingents in the Late Roman army though this had been questioned by some historians.

Usage examples of "cataphract".

Valentinian and Anastasius came right behind, followed by droves of cataphracts.

He reminded himself, firmly, that he had chosen Basil to command the katyusha rocket force because the man was one of the few Thracian cataphracts who had a liking and affinity for the new weapons.

The katyushas would be charging at the Malwa from their hiding place in the northeast woods, followed by the Thracian and Illyrian cataphracts.

Fortunately, the bow which had launched that arrow lacked the power of a cataphract bow.

No cataphract in his right mind would even think of driving armored horses through that rabbit warren.

Rhodes, watching the Syrian gunners miss targets at a range that any self-respecting Thracian cataphract could have hit with an arrow blind drunk.

No bows in the world were as powerful as cataphract bows, few arrowheads as sharp, and none as heavy.

The other half, within seconds, were being butchered by cataphract swords and axes.

So, one cataphract aiding another, they quickly gathered up their casualties and draped them across their horses.

Telling the cataphract Basil of the vision he had received, once, of a princess held in captivity by the Malwa.

Do you really want to unleash a volley of cataphract arrows against a crowd?

Every one of those thousand cataphracts who pounded past the Kushan hedgehog, fired at least one arrow into the enemy mass.

Belisarius and his cataphracts were within fifty yards of the Malwa regulars who had been advancing behind the Kushans.

He saw, out of the corner of an eye, one of his cataphracts clutch his face with both hands and fall off his saddle.

He had assumed that the rocket volleys would be over and done with by the time the cataphracts arrived.