Jambeaus

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Armor plates worn to protect the lower leg, especially in medieval and early modern warfare
2. Pieces of metal armor that covered the legs from knee to ankle in medieval combat
3. Leg armor, typically of metal, fastened over the shin and calf to guard a warrior in battle

Etymology: "Jambeaus" is simply the plural of "jambeau", a piece of medieval armour: a protective covering for the leg, worn by knights from about the thigh down to the ankle. The singular is the word that matters, since it ties the armour to the body part it guarded. The word comes from Old French "jambe", meaning "leg", the same root that gives English "jamb" (the side post of a doorway), though that sense developed separately in English. Old French formed "jambiere", a leg armour, from it, and Anglo-Norman speakers in England made a derivative of their own, which passed into Middle English as "iambeau" with a plural form in "-s". English later also used "jamber" for the same kind of protection, so the armour was known by more than one name in the Middle Ages.

Synonyms: greaves, leg armor