1910–1911
Britannica 11th
Encyclopaedia Britannica · 11th edition
EPAULETTE (a French word, from epaule, a shoulder), properly a shoulder-piece, and so applied to the shoulder-knot of ribbon to which a scapulary was attached, worn by members of a religious order. The military usage was probably derived from the metal plate (epauliere) which protected the shoulder in the defensive armour of the i6th century. It was first used merely as a shoulder knot to fasten the baldric, and the application of it to mark distinctive grades of rank was begun in France at the suggestion, it is sa…
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- Vol. 9, pp. 666-666