GANTLET, or GAUNTLET, a large kind of glove made of iron, and having the fingers covered with small plates. It was formerly worn by the cavaliers, when armed at all points. The word is derived from the French gantlet; and that from gant or gant, a glove. The casque and gantlets were always borne in the ancient marches of ceremony. Gauntlets were not introduced until about the thirteenth century. The gauntlet was frequently thrown, like the glove, by way of challenge.