Word origin
[1575–85; ‹ L
cataphractus fully armored ‹ Gk
katáphraktos (akin to
kataphrássein to clothe fully in armor), equiv. to
kata- cata- +
phraktós fenced, protectively clothed (
phrag- fence +
-tos verbal adj. suffix)
]This word is first recorded in the period 1575–85. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: cusp, energy, snug, stripper, subaltern