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SCABBARD
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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.