helmet

Alternative forms

• helmette (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English helmet, helmett, a borrowing from Old French helmet, heaumet, a diminutive of helme (Modern French heaume), equivalent to helm +‎ -et. The Old French is itself of Germanic origin (whence Old English helm). Used in English since the 15th century, it has largely displaced helm as the general word.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhɛlmɪt/, /ˈhɛlmət/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlmɪt

Noun

helmet (plural helmets)

2. (clothing) A hard, protective head covering, typically part of armour.

   Synonyms: (archaic or poetic) helm, (sometimes humorous) brain bucket

   Hyponym: hard hat

   • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter II, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC:

     Now that she had rested and had fed from the luncheon tray Mrs. Broome had just removed, she had reverted to her normal gaiety.  She looked cool in a grey tailored cotton dress with a terracotta scarf and shoes and her hair a black silk helmet.

   • 2009 February 25, Noam Friedlander, “Dangerous sport of speedboarding banned from Malibu streets”, in The Daily Telegraph:

     Most speedboarders wear helmets, knee and elbow pads, and occasionally all-in-one aerodynamic suits, to protect themselves.

   1. (heraldry) Such a helm when placed above a shield on a coat of arms.

      Synonym: helm

3. That which resembles a helmet in form, position, etc.
   1. The upper part of a chemist's retort.

      Synonym: (obsolete) helm

   2. The hood-shaped upper sepal or petal of some flowers, as of the monkshood or the snapdragon.
   3. A naked shield or protuberance on the top or fore part of the head of a bird.
   4. The glans penis.

      Synonyms: see Thesaurus:glans penis

      1. (by extension, derogatory) A contemptible or stupid person.
         • 2021 September 3, MJowen174, Twitter‎, archived from the original on 2023-01-14:

           Jarvo’s a stinky old helmet.

Verb

helmet (third-person singular simple present helmets, present participle helmeting or helmetting, simple past and past participle helmeted or helmetted)

1. (transitive) To cover with, or as if with, a helmet.
   • 1913 August 28, “English Non-Militant Suffragists in Parade”, in The Union Signal, volume XXXIX, number 35, Evanston, Ill., page 12:

     There was no nonsense about these women—no hysteria, no top-note emotion. They were not out for smashing windows or helmetting policemen, or blowing up things sky-high.

   • 1917 August, Walter Adolphe Roberts, “To a Friend Fallen for France (Alan Seeger)”, in The Forum, volume LVIII, New York, N.Y.: The Forum Publishing Company […], page 210:

     COMRADE, I had done well with you to swear / Allegiance to the colors of romance / In the great days when our sweet mistress, France, / Girded her loins and helmetted her hair.

   • 2014, Jandy Nelson, I’ll Give You the Sun, New York, N.Y.: Dial Books, →ISBN, page 96:

     And then they’re fleeing in a second rain of meteorites, their arms helmetting their heads, as they run away from us.

Anagrams

• Lethem

Etymology

From English helmet, from Middle English helmet, helmett, a borrowing from Old French helmet, heaumet, a diminutive of helme.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: hel‧met

Noun

helmet

1. a helmet; a protective head covering, usually part of armour

Verb

helmet

1. to wear a helmet

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:helmet.

Noun

helmet

1. nominative plural of helmi
2. necklace made of pearls or beads

Alternative forms

• helmette, helmett, helmete

Etymology

From Old French helmet; equivalent to helm +‎ -et.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɛlˈmɛt/, /ˈhɛlmɛt/

Noun

helmet

1. A helmet; an armoured piece of headgear.

Etymology

Borrowed from English helmet, from Middle English helmet, helmett, a borrowing from Old French helmet, heaumet, ultimately from Germanic origin. Doublet of almete.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈhelmet/ [ˈhɛl.mɛt̪̚]
• Rhymes: -elmet
• Syllabification: hel‧met

Noun

helmet (Baybayin spelling ᜑᜒᜎ᜔ᜋᜒᜆ᜔)

1. helmet

   Synonym: (rare) almete

References

• “helmet”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018