byrnie
/ˈbɝni/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
1
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A short chain mail shirt, covering from the upper arms to the upper thighs.
Example Sentences
- "[…] those that walked armed before the Witches’ booths, six in company, harnessed as for battle in byrnies of shining bronze, with greaves and shields of bronze and helms that glanced in the sun."
- "It was the Viking habit. Even as a man plowed his field or chopped trees in the woods, his byrnie and his sword were always at hand."
- "Unferth stood beside him, his huge arms folded on his byrnie."
- "The mail-coat, or byrnie, was made of iron links that probably were cut out of sheet metal with a die, or from flat hammered wire cut into short lengths."
Etymology
From Middle English brinie, burne (whence also, without metathesis, obsolete English brinie), from Old Norse brynja. Cognates include Old English byrne, Gothic 𐌱𐍂𐌿𐌽𐌾𐍉 (brunjō) (whence Old Church Slavonic брънѩ (brŭnję)), German Brünne, French broigne.
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈbɝni/
- British English: /ˈbɜːni/