armor

The dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy (RAE) recognizes almost a dozen meanings of the term armor, which comes from the Latin word armatūra. The first meaning mentioned refers to set of defensive elements that, in ancient times, soldiers used to protect their bodies.

It can be said, in this sense, that an armor was a clothing since it was formed with different garments or parts that covered the combatants. The purpose of the armor was to minimize damage in the event of an enemy offensive: if the person covered in armor she was attacked with a sword, to mention one possibility, the material of the clothing prevented injuries that would otherwise cause the edge of the weapon.

The navy is a type of defensive clothing that was used in ancient times.

Armor history

Armor is estimated to have arisen in the second millennium BC. Until then, the military did not usually cover their bodies with special protections.

The earliest armor consisted of a padded cuirass of linen or leather, sometimes lined with metal plates, which were worn together with a helmet.

Depending on each town, the armor could have components of metal, leather, bone, shell or wood, for example. At present, however, the idea is usually associated with the Full armor (also known as white armor or steel plate armor), which began to be used in the Middle Ages.

Articulated parts

The call Full armor was formed with multiple pieces of steel or from iron that articulated with each other, being joined with rivets and straps. The equipment could weigh up to thirty kilograms.

Beyond the high weight, the full armor did not limit the movements thanks to the distribution of the kilos and the joints. The rigidity of the assembly, in turn, helped to distribute the Energy of the blows received and prevented cuts.

The body was protected with elements As the overalls and the pancera, while the limbs were protected with armguards, shoulder pads, glove boxes, kneepads, legguards, etc.

The armadillo is an animal that has armor.

Armor in anatomy

According to RAE, you can call armor skeleton: that is, to the pieces that give consistency to a body.

In any case, it is more common for the notion to refer specifically to the surface or external protection what have some animals to defend against predators. The exoskeleton of arthropods and shell of certain mollusks they are constituted as armor.

Let's look at the case of armadillo. This mammalian animal, also known as tattoo, mulita, quirquincho or furry, presents an armor consisting of a bony shell composed of plates.

The concept in architecture

In the field of architectureFinally, armor makes mention of the metal or wood segments that are assembled to support the roof of a building.

The reinforcement is developed with linear pieces organized to resist compressive and tensile stresses. Depending on the layout, there are different types of trusses. The gabled armor, the broken armor, the scissor armor and the mill armor are some of the structures of this class that can be found in buildings.