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HABERGION

Volume 10 · 148 words · 1815 Edition

or HAUBERGEON, HABERGETUM, a coat of mail; an ancient piece of defensive armour, in form of a coat, descending from the neck to the middle, and formed of little iron rings or meshes, linked into each other.β€”It is also written haberge, hauberge, haubere, haubert, haubter, hautbert, and hauberk. Spelman takes it from the ancient French haut, "high," and berg, "armour, covering;" as serving to defend the upper part of the body. Du Cange and Skinner derive it from the Belgic hals, or Teutonic halix, "neck," and Bergen, "to cover;" i.e. a defence for the neck. Others will have it formed of al, alla, q. d. all, and Bergen, "to cover;" as importing it a cover for the whole body. In Scripture it seems to signify an offensive weapon. "The sword of him that layeth at him cannot hold; the spear, the dart, nor the habergeon," Job, xli. 26.