κατάφρακτος
Πόλις γὰρ οὐκ ἔσθ᾽ ἥτις ἀνδρός ἐσθ᾽ ἑνός → The state which belongs to one man is no state at all
English (LSJ)
ον, covered, shut up, ἐν δεσμῷ S.Ant.958 (lyr., in old Att. form κατάφαρκτος); πλοῖα κατάφρακτα decked vessels, Th.1.10 codd., cf. Plb.1.20.13; ἔν τε ταῖς ἀφράκτοις καὶ ταῖς κ. ναυσί IG12(1).41 (Rhodes, i B.C.); ἡ κατάφρακτος ἵππος cavalry clad in full armour, mailed, Plb.30.25.9, cf. Arr.Tact.4.1, 19.4; ἱππεῖς Plu. Crass.21; τὰ κατάφρακτα = coat of mail, PMagd.13.6 (iii B.C.): metaph., encased in ignorance of the future, ψυχαί Ion Trag.6.
German (Pape)
[Seite 1389] eingeschlossen, verwahrt, πετρώδει ἐν δεσμῷ Soph. Ant. 958; – gepanzert, ἵππος Pol. 16, 18, 10 u. öfter; – πλοῖα κατάφρακτα, mit Verdecken versehen, Thuc. 1, 10, Schol. σεσανιδωμένα; Pol. 1, 20, 13 u. öfter; D. Sic. 13, 109.
French (Bailly abrégé)
ος, ον :
enfermé dans une armure ou protégé par un abri ; πλοῖον THC navire cuirassé, càd garni de planches massives qui, exhaussant le bord, protégeaient latéralement les rameurs.
Étymologie: καταφράσσω.
Greek (Liddell-Scott)
κατάφρακτος: -ον, καταπεφραγμένος, καλῶς κεκαλυμμένος, ἐγκεκλεισμένος, κ. πετρῴδει ἐν δεσμῷ Σοφ. Ἀντ. 958 (ἔνθα ὁ παλαιὸς Ἀττ. τύπος, κατάφαρκτος, ἐπανορθοῦται ὑπὸ τοῦ Δινδ. ἐκ τοῦ Κώδ. Λ., πρβλ. ἄφρακτος)· πλοῖα κ., ἔχοντα καταστρώματα, Θουκ. 1. 10, πρβλ. Πολύβ. 1. 20, 13 · ἔν τε ταῖς ἀφράκτοις καὶ ταῖς κ. ναυσί Σύλλ. Ἐπιγρ. 2525· κ. σκάφη Πολύβ. 16. 2, 12 · ἵπποι κ., περιβεβλημένοι θώρακα, Λατ. loricalus (Λίβ. 37. 40) ἢ καταπεφραγμένοι τοῖς ὅπλοις Πολύβ. 31. 3, 9, κτλ.· Ιππεῖς Πλουτ. Κράσσ. 21· ἡ μεταφορὰ ἐκ τῆς Ὁμηρ. ῥήσεως, φράξαντες δόρυ δορί, σάκος σάκεϊ προθελύμνῳ Ἰλ. Ν. 130, Εὐστάθ.· μεταφορ., ἡ κατεσκοτισμένη καὶ μὴ τὸ μέλλον εἰδυῖα, ψυχὴ Ἴων παρ᾽ Ἡσυχ.
Greek Monolingual
-η, -ο (AM κατάφρακτος, -ον)
βλ. κατάφραχτος.
Greek Monotonic
κατάφρακτος: παλιός Αττ. -φαρκτος, -ον, κλειδωμένος, ασφαλισμένος, περιορισμένος, σε Σοφ.· πλοῖακ., διακοσμημένα πλοία, σε Θουκ.
Russian (Dvoretsky)
κατάφρακτος:
1) покрытый броней (ἵππος Polyb.; ἱππεῖς Plut.);
2) защищенный (толстыми досками) (πλοῖα Thuc.);
3) Soph. v.l. = κατάφαρκτος.
Dutch (Woordenboekgrieks.nl)
κατάφρακτος -ον [καταφρασσομαι] overdekt, gepantserd:; πλοῖα κατάφρακτα overdekte schepen Thuc. 1.10.4; ἡ κ. ἵππος de gepantserde ruiterij Plut. Luc. 28.2; subst.: αἱ κατάφρακται dekschepen.
Middle Liddell
shut up, confined, Soph.; πλοῖα κ. decked vessels, Thuc. [from καταφράσσω
English (Woodhouse)
Wikipedia EN
A cataphract was a form of armored heavy cavalryman fielded in ancient warfare throughout Eurasia and Northern Africa.
The English word derives from the Greek κατάφρακτος kataphraktos (plural: κατάφρακτοι Kataphraktoi), literally meaning "armored" or "completely enclosed" (the prefix kata-/cata- implying "intense" or "completely"). Historically, the cataphract was a very heavily armored horseman, with both the rider and mount almost completely covered in scale armor, and typically wielding a kontos or lance as his primary weapon.
Cataphracts served as the elite cavalry force for most empires and nations that fielded them, primarily used for charges to break through opposing heavy cavalry and infantry formations. Chronicled by many historians from the earliest days of antiquity up until the High Middle Ages, they are believed[by whom?] to have influenced[clarification needed] the later European knights, through contact with the Byzantine Empire.
Peoples and states deploying cataphracts at some point in their history included: the Scythians, Sarmatians, Alans, Parthians, Achaemenids, Sakas, Armenians, Seleucids, Pergamenes, Kingdom of Pontus, Greco-Bactrian Kingdom, Sassanids, Romans, Goths, Byzantines, Georgians, Chinese, Koreans, Jurchens, and Mongols.
In Europe, the fashion for heavily armored Roman cavalry seems to have been a response to the Eastern campaigns of the Parthians and Sassanids in the region referred to as Asia Minor, as well as numerous defeats at the hands of Iranian cataphracts across the steppes of Eurasia, most notably in the Battle of Carrhae in upper Mesopotamia (53 BC). Traditionally, Roman cavalry was neither heavily-armored nor decisive in effect; the Roman equites corps comprised mainly lightly-armored horsemen bearing spears and swords and using light-cavalry tactics to skirmish before and during battles, and then to pursue retreating enemies after a victory. The adoption of cataphract-like cavalry formations took hold among the late Roman army during the late 3rd and 4th centuries. The Emperor Gallienus Augustus (r. 253–268 AD) and his general and putative usurper Aureolus (died 268) arguably contributed much to the institution of Roman cataphract contingents in the Late Roman army.
Translations
ar: كاتافراكت; az: katafraktlar; be: катафракт; bg: катафракт; ca: catafracta; cs: katafrakt; da: katafrakt; de: Kataphrakt; el: κατάφρακτος; en: cataphract; eo: katafrakto; es: catafracto; eu: katafrakto; fa: سوار زرهپوش; fi: katafrakti; fr: cataphractaire; gl: catafracto; he: קטפרקט; hu: kataphraktosz; hy: կատաֆրակտոս; id: katafrak; it: catafratto; ja: カタフラクト; ko: 철갑기병; ms: kataphract; nl: katafrakt; no: katafrakt; pl: katafrakt; pt: catafractário; ro: catafract; ru: катафрактарии; sh: katafrakt; sk: katafrakt; sl: katafrakt; sr: катафракт; sv: katafrakt; tr: katafrakt; uk: катафрактарії; uz: katafraktlar; vi: cataphract; zh: 全覆裝甲騎兵