SCABBARD  , the sheath of a

sword . The early forms of the word given in the Promptorium parvulorum are scauberk, scaubert or scauberd . The termination is certainly from the Teutonic bergen, to protect, as seen in " hauberk," " hawberk " (i.e. halsberg), literally a protection for the neck and shoulders, hence the " long tunic of mail " of the r 2th century (see ARMS AND ARMOUR) . The first part is doubtful; Skeat takes it as representing the O . Fr. escale, mod. ecaille, shell, Ger . Schale; the word would therefore mean an outer sheath or shell that covers or protects .