jambe

plural jambes

1. governmentA leg, of an animal or person.

   Lion's jambe, erased, grasping a laurel branch.

   1828, William Berry, Encyclopaedia Heraldica, Or Complete Dictionary of Heraldry: Dictionary of Heraldry

   4 more examples

   [Image of a human leg in armor.] Crest - A jambe, unarmed, excepting the spur, quarterly, or and sa.

   1844, John Burke, Bernard Burke, Encyclopædia of Heraldry: Or General Armory of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Comprising a Registry of All Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time, Including the Late Grants by the College of Arms

   If couped or erased at the middle joint, it is not a jambe but a paw, as in the example given under Seal, q.v. Or, a lion's jambe inverted and erased in bend gules—Powis. Gules, three lion's jambes erased and inverted argent—Newdigate, Surrey. Or, a lion's jambe inverted and erased in bend gules. Powis. Gules, three lion's jambes erased and inverted argent.

   1847, Henry Gough, A Glossary of Terms Used in British Heraldry: With a Chronological Table, Illustrative of Its Rise and Progress, page 171

   ... by the side of which is a pheasant, and at his feet there is a lion's jambe with the claws retracted.

   1889, Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (Great Britain), Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, page 16

   “Over all, on an escutcheon of the first, a jambe gules.” “A jambe gules erased,” said Sir Nigel, shaking his head solemnly. “Yet it is not amiss for a monkbred man. I trust that you are lowly and serviceable?”

   1902, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Works of A. Conan Doyle: The white company, page 167

2. in pluraloftenSynonym of jambeau (“a greave”).

   Bainbergs were the precursors of the steel greaves or jambes of the fourteenth century.

   1910, George Clinch, English Costume from Prehistoric Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century, page 189

   2 more examples

   […] cuissarts or cuisses were used to shield the thigh, and boots of steel called greaves or jambes were worn upon the leg between the ancle^([sic]) and the knee. We have no doubt that the jambes were found to act well as preserves, but we think at times the shin must have been sadly jammed in them.

   1860 August 18, Punch, Or, The London Charivari, page 68

   The spurs are of the goad-form, and the spur-straps are partially covered by the greaves or jambes, which are so formed as to protect the instep and ankle-joints, and are ornamented round the lower edges with a row of studs.

   1893, Archaeologia Cambrensis: The Journal of the Cambrian Archoeological Association, page 272

   Synonyms: jambeau