Ventail

/ˈvɛn.teɪl/ · noun

Meaning

(historical) Synonym of aventail (“mail curtain or flap, on a helmet or a mail coif, that protects the lower face and neck”)..

Definitions by Sense

1. (historical) Synonym of aventail (“mail curtain or flap, on a helmet or a mail coif, that protects the lower face and neck”).
2. (historical) The movable front part of a medieval helmet, originally including the visor but later specifically the separate lower section.
3. (historical, rare) A vent or breathing-hole in a medieval helmet, for the admission of air.

Example Sentences

Having unhorsed this enemy and hacked him into submission, the knight rips off his foe's helmet and turns down the mail ventail (protecting the vulnerable throat), perhaps pounds the fellow's face a bit with the pommel of his sword; ...

Finally, the Carolingian byrnie might have had a mail ventail, or bib, hanging from the neck that, when raised and attached to the helmet, provided neck and lower face protection. The ventail is specifically mentioned twice in the ...

[…] depicts the Virtues and Vices in combat. The Vices are trampled underfoo by the victorious Virtues wearing skirts and shirts of mail. Their helmets are bowl-shaped with a mail ventail (ventaille) covering the neck. On a twelfth-century capital in the church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine in Vézelay, David and Goliath are depicted fighting.

[…] even in the eleveth and early twelfth centuries, where helmets were of a simple nasal form, the wearing of a mail coif with a ventail that laced across the lower part of the face would have covered enough of the face […]

The Lednickie example has its nasal terminating in a small hook; this was almost certainly to support the mail ventail of the mail coif, and thus to provide better facial protection.

Others, most notably David C. Nicolle, claim instead that this merely depicts a mail ventail (the face covering of a mail coif), which has been unlaced for comfort when not in battle.

Then Jessup pulled the chain mail ventail attached to the hauberk over Alaric's head before raising the flap at his throat and tying it on both sides of his face to cover his neck. When his squire handed him his helmet, Alaric settled the ...

The helmet, in its improved state, was composed of two parts; the headpiece, which was strengthened within by several circles of iron; and the visor or ventail, which (as the names imply) was a sort of grating to see or breathe through, so contrived as by sliding in a groove, or turning on a pivot, to be raised or lowered […]

Synonyms for ventail

Antonyms for ventail

Related Words

Word Forms

• ventails
• ventaile
• ventaille
• ventayle

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

Practice and Learn More

Frequently Asked Questions