camail

American  

[kuh-meyl] / kəˈmeɪl /

noun

1. aventail.

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camail British  

/ ˈkæmeɪl /

noun

1. armour a neck and shoulders covering of mail worn with and laced to the basinet

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Other Word Forms

• camailed adjective

Etymology

Origin of camail

1660–70; < French < Old Provençal capmalh, equivalent to cap head ( see chief) + malh mail ²

Example Sentences

There are still traces of colour on this monument and gold remains on the points of the cap to which the camail is fastened, as also on the jewelled sword-belt.

From Bell’s Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Hereford, A Description Of Its Fabric And A Brief History Of The Episcopal See by Fisher, A. Hugh (Alfred Hugh)

Thereupon the heaume became, by degrees, the special head-dress of the tournament, and grew heavier, larger and more elaborate, while the basinet, reinforced with camail and vizor, was worn in battle.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 2 "Hearing" to "Helmond" by Various

These two prelates wore a camail and rochet.

From The Court of the Empress Josephine by Perry, Thomas Sergeant

Her petticoat was very short, lightly puffed on the sides, and ornamented only with two very long pockets trimmed like the camail.

From Strange True Stories of Louisiana by Cable, George Washington

At its end the knight is often locked in plates from head to foot, no chainwork showing save the camail edge under the helm and the fringe of the mail skirt or hawberk.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 2, Slice 6 "Armour Plates" to "Arundel, Earls of" by Various