English
jambeau
Jambeau comes from Old French jambe ‘leg’, and goes back to Ancient Greek κάμπη ‘caterpillar’.
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκάμπη‘caterpillar’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEgamba
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400jambe‘leg’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500iambeau
- Englishearliest quotation 1590jambeau
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEκάμπη‘caterpillar’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CEgamba
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400jambe‘leg’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500iambeau
- Englishearliest quotation 1590jambeau
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene: “The mortall steele despiteously entayld / Deepe in their…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kh₂em- ‘to bend, curve’
campaign, camera, champion, campus, chamber, chimney, kemp, cabaret, champaign, camaraderie, kam, skimp, cantonment, camber, campanile, campagna, chambray, 20 more
through Proto-Indo-European *kh₂emp-
through Late Latin gamba
Today it means
noun A piece of armour for the leg (especially below the knee), a greave.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Ancient Greek κάμπη / jambeau