quillon

Meanings

1. Synonym of crossguard (“a metal bar fixed between, and at right angles to, the blade and the handle of a sword or other bladed weapon that stops an opponent's similar weapon from sliding along the blade and injuring the hand of the person wielding the sword”).
2. Either of the two arms of a crossguard.

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French quillon (literally “little ninepin”), from quille (“club; ninepin, skittle”) (from the similar appearance) + -on (diminutive suffix). Quille is derived from Middle High German kegel (“club”), from Old High German kegil, from Proto-West Germanic *kagil (“pile, pole, stake; peg, pin”), from *kagō (“bush, shrub”) + *-il (diminutive suffix).