gambeson

[gam-buh-suhn]

noun

Armor.

1. a quilted garment worn under mail.

gambeson

/ 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

Word History and Origins

Origin of gambeson¹

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of gambeson¹

C13: from Old French, of Germanic origin; related to Old High German wamba belly; see _womb

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.

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

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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.

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Over the hawberk is a garment, perhaps of leather with a dagged skirt-edge, and over this again is a sleeveless gambeson or pourpoint of leather or quilted work, studded and enriched.

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Gambeson was an equivalent term.

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