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BELT (a word common to Teutonic languages, the Old Ger. form being bale, from which the Lat. balteus probably derived)
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BELT (a word common to Teutonic languages, the Old Ger. form being bale, from which the Lat. balteus probably derived), a flat strap of leather or other material used as a girdle (q.v.), especially the cinctura glad ii or sword-belt, the chief " ornamentof investiture " of an earl or knight; in machinery, a flexible strap passing round from one drum, pulley or wheel to another, for the purpose of power-transmission(q.v.). The word is applied to any broad stripe, to the belts of the planet Jupiter, to the armour-belt at the water-line of a warship, or to a tract of country; narrow in proportion to its length, with special distinguishing characteristics, such as the earthquake-belt across a continent.