chape

noun

1. The lower metallic cap at the end of a sword's scabbard.

   “The blade is 33 in. long, of triangular section, etched, gilt and blued at the hilt. The scabbard is covered with black sole-skin, with a gilt locket and chape; the locket inscribed BLAND AND FOSTER, SWORD CUTLERS[…]”

   “Sword and scabbard fittings comprise the sword pommel, the chape at the end of the scabbard, the sword guard at the top of the blade, the sword slide and its accompanying reverse fitting (the latter being sometimes referred to as a girdle-clasp) that were normally bound into the scabbard[…]”

   “The scabbard ended in a chape, which took two forms: sometimes it terminated in a ball, and sometimes in a crescent or fish-tail.”

2. (alt-of, alternative)Alternative form of chappe (“rainguard”) (piece fitted to a sword's crossguard).

   “[…] the swords nevertheless do not lack the chape, the small leather piece that overlaps the crossguard in a semi-circle over the base of the blade and that is often referred to as a rain guard.”

3. (archaic)The piece by which an object is attached to something, such as the frog of a scabbard or the metal loop at the back of a buckle by which it is fastened to a strap.

   “SABRE-BELT, ( black buff-leather.) — Length 36 to 40 inches, width 1.9 inch; 2 leather chapes sewed on the outside of the belt for attaching 2 brass loops […]”

   “At the end of each point a buckle is attached by means of a leather chape, and it is to these buckles that the two […]”

4. The tip of a fox's tail.