A protective covering or plate worn on the forearm, especially in archery or medieval armor; also a variant spelling of 'bracer' in heraldry.
From Old French 'brassard' or 'bracier,' from 'brace' (arm). In archery, it protected the archer's wrist and forearm from the bowstring. In armor, it was part of arm protection.
Medieval archers wore bracers to prevent serious bruising from the bowstring—it's such a practical piece of equipment that modern archers still use them today, unchanged in principle for 600 years.
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