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hauberk

[haw-burk]
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noun Armor.
  1. a long defensive shirt, usually of mail, extending to the knees; byrnie.
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Origin of hauberk

1250–1300; Middle English < Old French hauberc, earlier halberc < Frankish *halsberg, equivalent to *hals neck (see hawse) + *berg protection (see harbor); cognate with Old High German halsberc Old English healsbeorg, Old Norse halsbjǫrg
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for hauberk

Historical Examples

  • We have as much to fear from the tonsure as from the hauberk.

    The White Company

    Arthur Conan Doyle

  • It was a victory to know that it had broken through her father's hauberk of prejudice.

    Old Ebenezer

    Opie Read

  • What now is thy wont in the handplay with the helm and the hauberk of rings?

  • A hauberk, or coat of mail, composed of steel rings, protected his body.

    With Spurs of Gold

    Frances Nimmo Greene

  • If the garment were a simple tunic or frock the whole was called a hauberk.

British Dictionary definitions for hauberk

hauberk

noun
  1. a long coat of mail, often sleeveless
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Word Origin

C13: from Old French hauberc, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German halsberc, Old English healsbeorg, from heals neck + beorg protection, shelter
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for hauberk

n.

c.1300, from Old French hauberc "coat of mail," earlier holberc, from a Germanic source, perhaps Frankish *halsberg, literally "neck-cover" (cf. Old English halsbearh, Old High German halsberc), from *hals "neck" (see collar (n.)) + *bergan "to cover, protect" (see bury).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper