wambais
.
Searchable Lemmata: wambais (ME), wambais (MdE).
Alternate Forms: wambasia, wambeis, wanbasia.
Definitions and Defining Citations:
1(n.)
Garment;
variant form of the word gambeson (q.v.); a padded military tunic, often worn under a habergeon or other armour. The Revised Medieval Latin Word-List also notes instances of the Latinized 'wambasia' in c. 1192 and the thirteenth century (no citations available).(circa 1180 - post 1260 ?)
Sex: Male Use: Military Status: High Ceremonial: No
Body Parts: Back, Chest.
Etymological Evidence:
Definite, from Old French wambais, gambais, a variant shorter form of gambeson (q.v.) < *wamebsio(ne), normally considered a proto-Romance borrowing from a Germanic compound of wamba 'belly' (cf. English womb). This form was also borrowed into MHG as wambes. The present attestations may in fact be instances of Anglo-French usage in a Latin matrix, rather than Middle English.
WF: Borrowed into the British Isles
Etym Cog: wambais (OF).
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