hauberk

[haw-burk]

See more synonyms for hauberk on Thesaurus.com

noun Armor.

a long defensive shirt, usually of mail, extending to the knees; byrnie.

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

Related Words for hauberk

mail, hauberk

Examples from the Web for hauberk

Historical Examples of hauberk

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?
The House of the Wolfings
William Morris
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.
The History of Chivalry, Volume I (of 2)
Charles Mills

British Dictionary definitions for hauberk

hauberk

noun

a long coat of mail, often sleeveless

Word Origin for hauberk

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

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).