铁甲骑兵(希腊语：κριβαναριος）是装甲化的重骑兵类型，运用在西欧亚大陆与欧亚草原的许多民族之中。

铁甲骑兵一词源于希腊语 κατάφρακτος（或作 κατάφρακτοι），字面上的意思是「完全覆盖装甲」。历史上铁甲骑兵是种全装甲骑兵，骑马者与坐骑皆从头到脚穿挂鳞甲，一般装备骑枪或骑矛（kontos）作为武器。

铁甲骑兵为许多帝国与民族当成精锐骑兵或突袭战力，最初用于突破步兵数组的冲锋。他们据信出现在上古到中古许多西方历史学家的编年著作中，通常与欧洲封建时期的骑士与圣骑士相提并论，此乃与东罗马帝国接触的结果。

A cataphract was a form of armored heavy cavalry used in ancient warfare by a number of peoples in Western Eurasia and the Eurasian Steppe.

The word in English is derived from the Greek:κατάφρακτος Kataphraktos (plural: κατάφρακτοι Kataphraktoi), literally meaning "armored" or "completely enclosed". Historically, the cataphract was a very heavily armored horseman, with both the rider and steed draped from head to toe in scale armor, while typically wielding a kontos or lance as their weapon.