Meanings
plural gambesons · alternative gambison
- historicalA defensive garment formerly in use for the body, made of cloth stuffed and quilted, often worn as padding under armor.
The uniform jacket is a kind of padded armor called "gambeson." Layers of quilted cloth.
2024, Cube Kid [pseudonym; Erik Gunnar Taylor], Diary of an 8-Bit Warrior: Shadow over Aetheria, page 511 more example
Although the gambeson was chiefly worn under the coat of mail, to protect the body from being bruised by the strokes of the sword or lance, a circumstance that might happen without a division of the mail, the verses quoted in the Siege of Karleverok, shew that it was sometimes worn as a fur coat, and ornamented with rich decorations.
1786, Francis Grose, A Treatise on Ancient Armour and Weapons, page 18
Origin
- Proto-Germanic*wambō“belly, womb”
- Frankish*wamba“abdomen, belly”
- Medieval Latinwambāsium“doublet, waistcoat”
- Old Frenchgambeson
- Middle Englishgambison
- Englishgambeson
From Middle English gambison, from Old French gambeson, gambaison, from gambais, wambais (“quilted jerkin”), from Medieval Latin wambāsium (“doublet, waistcoat”), from Frankish *wamba (“abdomen, belly”), from Proto-Germanic *wambō (“belly, womb”): compare Middle High German wambeis, German Wams (“waistcoat, doublet”), from Old High German wamba (“stomach”). More at womb.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Dutch wambuis
- wambuisarmor
Finnish toppatakki, gambesoni
- toppatakkiarmor
- gambesoniarmor
French gambison
- gambisonarmor
Icelandic vápntreyja
- vápntreyjaarmor
Italian giaco
- giacoarmor
Polish przeszywanica, gambeson
- przeszywanicaarmor
- gambesonarmor
- aketonarmor
Portuguese jaque, jaquetão
- jaquearmor
- jaquetãoarmor
Spanish gambesón
- gambesónarmor
Swedish vapentröja, vapnetröja
- vapentröjaarmor
- vapnetröjaarmor
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
gambeson. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gambeson
“gambeson.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gambeson. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gambeson,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gambeson.
Source: gambeson on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.