gambeson

American  

[gam-buh-suhn] / ˈgæm bə sən /

noun

Armor.

1. a quilted garment worn under mail.

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of gambeson

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

Example Sentences

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

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

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

Above the gambeson was worn the gorget or throat piece, beneath the hauberk or coat of mail, by which it was concealed; this was the garment that peculiarly designated the rank of the wearer. 

From Rambles in an Old City comprising antiquarian, historical, biographical and political associations by Madders, S. S.

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