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vambrace

[vam-breys]
noun Armor.
  1. a piece of plate armor for the forearm; a lower cannon.Compare rerebrace.
  2. plate armor for the arm, usually including upper and lower cannons and a couter.
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Origin of vambrace

1300–50; Middle English va(u)mbras < Anglo-French (a)vantbras, equivalent to avant- fore- (see avaunt) + bras arm (see brace)
Related formsvam·braced, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for vambrace

Historical Examples

  • The Vambrace is worn under the sleeve of the hauberk, and not, as in the preceding example, over the mail.

    Armour &amp; Weapons

    Charles John Ffoulkes

  • The vambrace is generally rigid, either a solid tube or hinged on the outside and fastened on the inside by straps or hooks.

    Armour &amp; Weapons

    Charles John Ffoulkes

  • The fore-arm is covered with the plates of a vambrace which appears from under the hawberk sleeve.

British Dictionary definitions for vambrace

vambrace

noun
  1. a piece of armour used to protect the arm
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Derived Formsvambraced, adjective

Word Origin

C14: from Anglo-French vauntbras, from vaunt- (from Old French avant- fore-) + bras arm
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