gambeson

American  

[gam-buh-suhn] / ˈgæm bə sən /

noun

Armor.

1. a quilted garment worn under mail.

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gambeson British  

/ ˈɡæmbɪsən /

noun

1. a quilted and padded or stuffed leather or cloth garment worn under chain mail in the Middle Ages and later as a doublet by men and women

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Etymology

Origin of gambeson

1300–50; Middle English ga ( u ) mbeson a military tunic < Old French gambison, gambeison, probably < Germanic

Example Sentences

The Night’s Watch relies upon the heavier, less flexible quilted textile blouse known as a gambeson to trap heat radiating from the trunk4.

From Scientific American • Apr. 17, 2014

Finally, the doff/hang/beat process is not effective with a gambeson because moisture is absorbed into the cloth from which it is made.

From Scientific American • Apr. 17, 2014

He is clad in plate armor, and wears the cyclas, a curious garment cut much shorter in front than behind; "beneath it, the gambeson; then the coat of mail; and lastly the haqueton."

From The Children of Westminster Abbey Studies in English History by Kingsley, Rose Georgina

The knight’s hawberk is worn over a gambeson of linen, quilted linen or cotton, which lesser men wear with a steel cap for all defence.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of" by Various

"O luxurious youth, then will I, and shame thy nice luxuriousness!" quoth Beltane; and off came hauberk and quilted gambeson and away skipped Sir Fidelis into the green.

From Beltane the Smith by Farnol, Jeffery