hauberk
/ˈhɔːbɜː(ɹ)k/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.32 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A coat of mail; especially, the long coat of mail of the European Middle Ages, as contrasted with the habergeon, which is shorter and sometimes sleeveless.
Example Sentences
- "The hauberk was a complete covering of mail from head to foot. It consisted of a hood, joined to a jacket with sleeves, breeches, stockings and shoes of double chain mail, to which were added gauntlets of the same construction."
- "Ursula wore that day a hauberk under her gown, and was helmed with a sallet; and because of her armour she rode upon a little horse."
- "The hauberk was to the Norman what the byrnie was to the Saxon, the chief method of bodily defence."
- "The habergeon is the mail in this case, and the hauberk is of plate or splint armour, while the cote-armoure is the surcoat, possibly thickly padded, as in the still-existing surcoat of the Black Prince."
- "One, which was destined later to usurp the field completely, consisted of a sleeved mail or scale hauberk, probably of eastern, Iranian, origin, descending to the knees."
- "In Demetrios ' portrait, the saint wears a lamellar hauberk and a long surcoat over ornately patterned leggings. The painter has added an unusual element to the composition - a scarf tied around the horse's head […]"
Etymology
From Middle English hauberk, from Old French hauberc, from Frankish *halsaberg (“neck-cover”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: hauberk, hauberc, *halsaberg