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A long tunic made of chain mail.

[Middle English, from Old French hauberc, of Germanic origin; see kwel- in Indo-European roots.]


(Arms & Armour (excluding Firearms)) a long coat of mail, often sleeveless
[C13: from Old French hauberc, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German halsberc, Old English healsbeorg, from heals neck + beorg protection, shelter]


(ˈhɔ bɜrk)

a medieval tunic of chain mail worn for defense.
[1250–1300; Middle English < Old French hauberc, earlier halberc < Frankish *halsberg=*hals neck (see hawse) + *berg protection (see harbor)]
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.hauberk - a long (usually sleeveless) tunic of chain mail formerly worn as defensive armorhauberk - a long (usually sleeveless) tunic of chain mail formerly worn as defensive armor
chain armor, chain armour, chain mail, ring armor, ring armour, ring mail, mail - (Middle Ages) flexible armor made of interlinked metal rings
References in classic literature ?
So they made a gallant sight as they rode along side by side, and all the people shouted from where they crowded across the space from the gentlefolk; so the Sheriff and his lady came to their place, where men-at-arms, with hauberk and spear, stood about, waiting for them.
We have as much to fear from the tonsure as from the hauberk. Strike at the noble and the priest shrieks, strike at priest and the noble lays his hand upon glaive.
/ Where is the helm and the hauberk, and the bright hair flowing?" (LotR III.6.508).
A coat of linked mail, with long sleeves, plated gauntlets, and a steel breastplate, had not been esteemed a sufficient weight of armour; there were also his triangular shield suspended round his neck, and his barred helmet of steel, over which he had a hood and collar of mail, which was drawn around the warrior's shoulders and throat, and filled up the vacancy between the hauberk and the headpiece.
Finally my lord Yvain smashed the knights helmet; the knight was stunned and weakened by the blow; he was confounded, for he had never before felt such a blow, which had split his head to the brain beneath the hood until the chainmail of his shining hauberk was stained with brains and blood, which caused him such great pain that his heart nearly failed him.