camail en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /kəˈmeɪl/
- /ˈkæm.eɪl/
- (Southern-England) audio
Etymology
Borrowed in the late 1600s from French camail, from Old Occitan capmalh.
Meanings
-
(historical) A piece of chainmail worn to protect the neck and shoulders, replacing the whole-head coif.
[…] the hood was increasingly replaced with a mail curtain (the camail or aventail) suspended from the outside of the bascinet, and the bascinet thus augmented gradually replaced the clumsy great helm as the principal defense […]
1995, William W. Kibler, Medieval France: An Encyclopedia, Psychology Press, →ISBN, page 126:
- (historical) An ecclesiastical ornament worn by bishops.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| camails | Number=Plur | lexicographic |