A small bracket or clasp used in medieval times to hold armor or clothing pieces together.
From Middle English bratchet, a diminutive form of brach (a female hunting dog, or a clasp), with the -et suffix indicating smallness. The word evolved to mean a small fastening device or metal bracket.
Medieval armor makers used bratchets to connect pieces of plate armor, and the word survived in English longer than the actual device—linguists find the word in inventories long after bratchets had been replaced by better fastening systems.
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.