gorget
/ˈɡɔːdʒɪt
/noun
1 historical An article of clothing that covered the throat.The Gorget, or Throat- piece, originated upon the Continent, and seems to have been of linen; it was three times wrapped round the neck....
- The gorget appears to have been cut on the bias and was pulled up to cover the throat.
1.1A piece of armour for the throat.The arrow took him through the throat, the armour piercing head passing through the gorget on the swordsman's throat with ease....
- Similar in purpose to the gorget of medieval plate armor, the neckerchief served to deflect arrows, broadswords, and even great axes from slicing through the vulnerable neck of a cowboy.
- He fumbled with the cuirass for a moment before he managed to hook the attachment hooks together, securing the piece of armour around his body, onto which the gorget was tied to protect his neck.
1.2A wimple.Where the man has a hood the woman has, as a rule, a head-veil and wimple or gorget....
- Behind them kneels a nun in linen gorget and black veil; her gown and mantle are of a dull warm slate colour, and she also wears a ring on the last finger.
2A patch of colour on the throat of a bird or other animal, especially a hummingbird.Both males and females are predominantly black with a glittering, rosy throat patch, or gorget, and emerald wings....
- Some males also have elegant ornamentation such as bright throat gorgets, crests and elongated tail feathers.
- The female, scaly-brown in colouring, displays a much less conspicuous off-white gorget.
Origin
Late Middle English (denoting a piece of armour protecting the throat): from Old French gorgete, from gorge 'throat' (see gorge).