helm 
helm 1 (helm), w. [< ME. helme, < AS. lielma, m., 
a helm, rudder, = D. he Im (stok), tiller, = MLG. 
helm, rudder, = MHG. lie/m, lidlinc, G. helm, 
helve, handle, G. also rudder, helm, steering- 
oar (in naut. sense from D. ), = Icel. hjdlm, a 
rudder; allied to helve and halter 2 , q. v. The 
word occurs, disguised, in the first element of 
halberd, q. v.] If. A handle; a helve. 
A great ax first she gave, that two ways cut, 
In which a fail- well-polish't helm was put, 
That from an olive-bough received his frame. 
Chapman, Odyssey, v. 
2. A'aut., the handle, lever, or instrument by 
which the rudder is shifted; the tiller, or in 
large ships the wheel : sometimes extended to 
include the whole steering-apparatus. 
Yet are they [ships] turned about with a very small helm, 
whithersoever the governor listeth. Jas. ill. 4. 
O where will I get a gude sailor, 
To take my helm in hand? 
Sir Patrick Spent (Child's Ballads, III. 154). 
In gallant trim the gilded vessel goes ; 
Youth on the prow, and Pleasure at the helm. 
Gray, The Bard, ii. 2. 
Hence 3. The place or post of direction or 
management : as, to take the helm of affairs. 
Men of ability and experience in great affairs, who have 
been long at the helm. Bp. Atterbury, Sermons, I. vii. 
I then sat at the helm of the commonwealth, and shared 
in the direction of its most important motions. 
W. Melmoth, tr. of Cicero, xi. 
There are not wanting persons at the helm, friends to 
the progress of this spirit. 
Je/ergon, Correspondence, II. 212. 
Down With the helm, the order to push the helm down 
to the lee side of the ship, in order to put the ship about or 
to lay her to windward. Helm amidships, or right the 
helm, the order to keep the rudder in a line with the keel. 
Helm's alee! See alee. Port the helm, the order 
to put the helm aport. Shift the helm, the order to 
put the helm from starboard to port, or the reverse.- 
Starboard the helm, the order to put the helm to the 
starboard or right side. To ease the helm, to let the 
helm come a little amidships so as to relieve the strain on 
the rudder. To feel the helm. See/eeH. To put the 
helm down, to put the helm alee in order to turn the ship 
to windward. Up with the helm, the order to put the 
helm aweather. Weather helm, the condition of the 
helm when kept a little to windward, or aweather, in or- 
der to prevent the ship's head from coining up in the wind 
while sailing close-hauled. 
helm 1 (helm), v.t. [<Aefo)ji, .] To steer; guide; 
direct. [Rare.] 
The very stream of his life, and the business he hath 
helmed, must, upon a warranted need, give him a better 
proclamation. Shale., M. lor M., iii. 2. 
Wherefore not 
Helm the huge vessel of your state, my liege, 
Here, by the side of her who loves you most? 
Tennyson, Queen Mary, v. 1. 
helm 2 (helm), n. [< ME. helm, < AS. helm, a 
protection, helm, also a protector, = OS. helm 
= OFries. D. MLG. helm = OHG. MHG. G. helm 
(> It. elmo = Sp. yelmo, OSp. elmo = Pg. elmo = 
OF. heaume, heanlme, F. heaume) = Icel. hjdlmr 
= Sw. Dan. hjelnt = Goth, hilms, helm; = 
OBulg. shlemOs = Russ. shlcme = Lith. szalmas, 
helm (the last three forms prob. of Teut. origin) ; 
prob. = Skt. garman, protection, shelter, from 
an assumed y gar, gal, repr. by AS. helan, ME. 
helen, E. heal 2 , cover : see heal 2 , hell 2 , hill 2 . Dim. 
(through OF.) helmet, q. v.] 1. A defensive 
cover for the head ; a helmet. See helmet, now 
the more common form. 
There sate a knight with helme unlaste. 
Spenser, F. Q., II. i. 24. 
(In whose defence t' appear more stern and full of dread) 
Put on a helm of clouds upon his rugged head. 
Drayton, Polyolbion, iv. 454. 
He wore, against his wont, upon his helm 
A sleeve of scarlet. 
Tennyson, Lancelot and Elaine. 
2. A dark heavy cloud that rests on the brow 
of a mountain before a storm, while the rest 
of the sky is clear. Also helm-cloud and helmet. 
On certain occasions, when the wind is from some easter- 
ly point, the helm suddenly forms. 
Science, VI., No. 148, Proc. of Royal Meteorological Soc. 
3. A hovel; an outhouse. [Prov. Eng.] Bar- 
rel helm, a type of helmet of the thirteenth century, 
partly cylindrical in form, with a flat top and the sides 
slightly if at all convex. Demi-helm, one of the smaller 
helmets of the middle ages, including the basinet, secret, 
chapel-de-fer, etc. 
helm'-* (helm), v. t. [< ME. helmcn, pp. helmed, 
ihelmed; < AS. helmian (poet.), cover, < helm, a 
covering, a helm, helmet : see helm?. Cf . OF. 
heaumer, heaulmer, cover with a helmet.] To 
furnish with a helmet; cover with a helmet, as 
a knight. 
As soone as he was newe helmed and hadde avented 
hym-self, he saugh how his felowes blenched on alle partes. 
Merlin (E. E. T. S.), ill. 459. 
2781 
helminthiasis 
He knew that, however a man may be helmeil and shielded 
and harnessed by skill and art, there was always a spear 
of truth which could pierce through. 
O. S. Hillard, John A. Andrew. 
helm 3 (helm), n. 
Same as halm. 
helmage (hel'maj), . [< helm 1 + -age.] Guid- 
ance. [Rare.] 
helm-bar (helm'bar), . [< helm 2 + &arl.] A 
roll of cloud suspended in the air below the 
helm-cloud. See helm 2 , n., 2. [Prov. Eng.] 
helm-cloud (helm'kloud), n. [< helm'-* + cloud.] 
Same as helm 2 , 2. 
Small portions of their vaporous clouds are seen travel- 
ling from the helm-cloud to the bar. 
Science, VI., No. 148, Proc. of Royal Meteorological Soc. 
helmet (hel'met), n. [= D. helmet, < OF. 'hel- 
met, elmet, healmet, heaumet, hiaumet, dim. of 
heaume, etc., E. helm = D. helm, etc.: see helm 2 ."] 
1. A defensive cover for the head. The term is 
applied in general to all defensive head-coverings except 
the slightest, such as the skull-cap, the secret, the wire 
hat, etc., and also 
the camail or coif. 
Specifically (a) 
if Hit.: (1) In an- 
cient and medie- 
val armor, a cap 
of metal worn to 
protect the head 
from sword-cuts 
and spear-thrusts. 
Such a helmet 
usually guarded 
the nape of the 
neck and sides of 
the face by means 
of hinged pieces 
or sliding splints 
(seecoucre-nuffue. 
face-guard, cheek- 
piece), and to a 
certain extent the 
face by means of a 
nasal, either fixed 
or movable, a beaver, a projecting vizor, or the like. The 
only helmets which covered the head and face completely 
were those worn by Roman gladiators of certain classes, 
and by medieval heavy-armed horsemen between the be- 
ginning of the thirteenth and the middle of the sixteenth 
helmet-crab (hel'met-krab),i. Akind of king- 
crab, Limulus longispinus. 
helmet-crest (hel'met-krest), n. A crested 
I form nf l,n?m i v 1 humming-bird o f the genus Oxypogon. 
""> I' V ' J helmeted (hel'met-ed), a. [< helmet + -ed 2 .] 
Furnished with or wearing a helmet. 
Oh no knees, none, widow ; 
Unto the helmeted Bellona use them 
And pray for me your souldier. 
Fletcher (and another), Two Noble Kinsmen, i. 
helmet-flower (hel'met-flou'er), n. 1. The ac- 
onite, wolf s-bane, or monkshood, Aconitmn an- 
thora, A. Napella, etc. 2. The skullcap, Scu- 
tellaria. 3. A South American orchid-epi- 
phyte of the genus Coryanthes: so called from 
its helmet-shaped lip. 
lielmetiert, . [< helmet + -ier 2 .] A soldier 
wearing a helmet. 
He ordeined that the helmettien or morioners should 
stand upon their feet, having their shields upright before 
them. Holland, tr. of Livy, p. 1191. 
helmet-quail (hel'met-kwal), n. A quail of the 
genus Lophortyx, having an elegant recurved 
crest like that of a helmet. There are two species 
in the United States, L. cali/ornicus, the common valley- 
Ancient Helmets. 
n, b, Corinthian type : ft, as worn in fight; 
i>, raised for comfort, c, Attic type (archaic), 
rf, a Roman form. 
Medieval Helmets. 
a, conical helmet with nasal, rath century ; b, conical basinet with 
camail secured to it, middle of I4th century ; c, vizored basinet, 
early years of isth century ; rf, cylindrical helmet with hinged vizor, 
middle of I3th century. ( From Viollet-le-Duc's " Diet, du Mobilier 
francais.") 
century ; the most completely defensive helmets were the 
tilting-helmets of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, 
which prevented the wearer from seeing except directly 
before him, and at a height on a line with his eyes. See 
armet, barrel helm (under helmZ), basinet, beaverV burga- 
net, cabasxet, heaume, iron-cap, lumiere, menlonniere, mo- 
rion, nasal, ceillere, ombril, tilting-helmet, vizor. 
I saw St. Denis his head inclosed in a wonderful rich 
helmet. Coryat, Crudities, I. 48. 
They drank the red wine through the helmet barred. 
Scott, L. of L. M., i. 4. 
(2) In present use, a stiff military hat of domed or pointed 
form, sometimes of metal or stiffened with bars of metal 
so as to afford defense against a sword-cut, (b) A hat, 
usually of leather and having a vizor and broad neck- 
guard, worn by firemen, (c) A hat of similar form worn by 
policemen, or by civilians for any purpose, especially in 
not climates. Such hats are usually of felt or pith, so 
formed as to have space for ventilation around the head 
or openings for ventilation above, (d) The headpiece of 
a suit of submarine armor. It is usually formed of sheet- 
metal and leather, and is fitted over the head and shoul- 
ders. It is provided with thick glass windows for the 
eyes and with pipes for air. See submarine armor, under 
armor, (e) A havelock used by anglers, with a projection 
in front of the face that can be covered by a netting or 
veil as a protection against insects. 
2. In her., the representation of a helmet, set 
above the escutcheon and seeming to support 
the armorial crest. Distinctions of rank are 
indicated by the metal, the number of bars in 
the vizor, and the position. 3. Same as helm 2 , 
2. 4. In hot., same as galea, 1 (e). 5. The 
upper part of a retort Beaked helmet, Corin- 
thian helmet, etc. See the adjectives. 
helmet-beetle (hel'met-be'tl), n. A chryso- 
melid beetle of one of the group of genera 
which Cassida exemplifies, sometimes made a 
type of a family Cassididce : so called from their 
form. Their larve are characteristic, being broadly oval 
and spiny, and having attached to the anal segment a 
dung-fork on which they carry their excrement. See cuts 
under Cassitla and Coptocycla. 
helmet-bird (hel'met-berd), n. A bird of the 
genus Coryihaix; a touracou. 
helmet-cockatoo (hel'met-kok-a-to'), . See 
cockatoo. 
Helmet-quail (l 
quail of California, and L. gambeli, which abounds in Ari- 
zona. Both are favorite game-birds, occupying the same 
place that is filled by the bob-white in eastern parts of 
the United States. Coues. 
helmet-shaped (hel'met-shapt), a. Shaped 
like a helmet; in lot., galeate. 
helmet-Shell (hel'met-shel), n. The shell of a 
mollusk of the genus Cassis; a cameo-shell. 
Most of them are found In tropical seas, some in the Med- 
iterranean. They are numerous, some attaining a large 
size. Such species as C. rufa, C. cornuta, and C. tuberosa 
furnish the material upon which shell-cameos are en- 
graved. See cut under Catadidee. 
helm-gliard (helm'gard), . In armor, a chain 
attaching the helm to the girdle or to the mam- 
meliere. See guard-chain. 
helm-hoopt, n. A helmet. Halliwell. 
helminth (hel'minth), n. [< Gr. lA/m-r (tt/wvfl-), 
also eA/w?, a worm, particularly a maw-worm, 
intestinal worm, allied to tA;f, a helix: see he- 
lix.] A worm ; especially, an entozoan, ento- 
parasitic, or intestinal worm, as a cestoid, tre- 
matoid, or nematoid. See cut under Cestoidea. 
helminthagogic (hel-min-tha-goj'ik), a. [< 
helminthagog-ue + -ic.~\ Having the properties 
of a helminthagogue or vermifuge ; anthelmin- 
tic; vermifugal. 
helminthagogue (hel-min'tha-gog), . [< Gr. 
etyuvf (e^fuvO-), a worm, + dyuy6f, leading, driv- 
ing, < ayew, lead, drive.] In med., a remedy 
against worms ; an anthelmintic ; a vermifuge. 
Helmintherus (hel-min-the'rus), ?(. [NL. 
(orig. erroneously Helmitherus), < Gr. ehfuvf 
(i^fxivO-), a worm, + irreg. Brjpav, hunt, < tM/p, a 
wild beast.] A genus of worm-eating warblers, 
the type of which is H. rermworus, a common 
bird of the eastern United States, about 5J 
inches long, of an olive-green color above, and 
having the head striped with a tawny color and 
with black. Coues, 1882. 
Helminthes (hel-min'thez), n.pl. [NL., < Gr. 
fA/iiff, pi. e\iuvdes, a worm: see helminth.'] A 
large group of worms. The term is not now in tech- 
nical use, but corresponds in a general way to Cestoidea, 
Trematoidea, and Nematoidea. 
Helminthia (hel-min'thi-ii), n. [NL., < Gr. 
el.uivf (ifyivB-), a worm.] See Picris. 
helminthiasis (hel-min-thi'a-sis), n. [NL.. < 
Gr. etynfliav, suffer from worms, < tf.uivf (fA^jvp-), 
a worm.] In pathol., a condition characterized 
by the presence of worms in any part of the 
body. 
