jambe

English

Etymology

From Middle English jambe, jaumbe, French jambe. Doublet of gam, gamb, gamba, and jamb.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒæm/
• Homophone: jam

Noun

jambe (plural jambes)

1. (heraldry) A leg, of an animal or person.
   • 1828, William Berry, Encyclopaedia Heraldica, Or Complete Dictionary of Heraldry: Dictionary of Heraldry:

     Lion's jambe, erased, grasping a laurel branch.

   • 1844, John Burke, Bernard Burke, Encyclopædia of Heraldry: Or General Armory of England, Scotland, and Ireland, Comprising a Registry of All Armorial Bearings from the Earliest to the Present Time, Including the Late Grants by the College of Arms:

     [Image of a human leg in armor.] Crest - A jambe, unarmed, excepting the spur, quarterly, or and sa.

   • 1847, Henry Gough, A Glossary of Terms Used in British Heraldry: With a Chronological Table, Illustrative of Its Rise and Progress, page 171:

     If couped or erased at the middle joint, it is not a jambe but a paw, as in the example given under Seal, q.v. Or, a lion's jambe inverted and erased in bend gules—Powis. Gules, three lion's jambes erased and inverted argent—Newdigate, Surrey.
     Or, a lion's jambe inverted and erased in bend gules. Powis. Gules, three lion's jambes erased and inverted argent.

   • 1889, Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society (Great Britain), Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeological and Natural History Society, page 16:

     ... by the side of which is a pheasant, and at his feet there is a lion's jambe with the claws retracted.

   • 1902, Arthur Conan Doyle, The Works of A. Conan Doyle: The white company, page 167:

     “Over all, on an escutcheon of the first, a jambe gules.” “A jambe gules erased,” said Sir Nigel, shaking his head solemnly. “Yet it is not amiss for a monkbred man. I trust that you are lowly and serviceable?”

2. (often in the plural) Synonym of jambeau (“a greave”).

   Alternative form: jamb

   • 1860 August 18, Punch, Or, The London Charivari, page 68:

     […] cuissarts or cuisses were used to shield the thigh, and boots of steel called greaves or jambes were worn upon the leg between the ancle^[sic] and the knee. We have no doubt that the jambes were found to act well as preserves, but we think at times the shin must have been sadly jammed in them.

   • 1893, Archaeologia Cambrensis: The Journal of the Cambrian Archoeological Association, page 272:

     The spurs are of the goad-form, and the spur-straps are partially covered by the greaves or jambes, which are so formed as to protect the instep and ankle-joints, and are ornamented round the lower edges with a row of studs.

   • 1910, George Clinch, English Costume from Prehistoric Times to the End of the Eighteenth Century, page 189:

     Bainbergs were the precursors of the steel greaves or jambes of the fourteenth century.

Usage notes

• Compare gamb, which typically refers to legs of animals, especially lions.

Related terms

• rond de jambe

Danish

Noun

jambe c (singular definite jamben, plural indefinite jamber)

1. (poetry) iamb

Declension

Declension of jambe

common gender	Singular		Plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	jambe	jamben	jamber	jamberne
genitive	jambes	jambens	jambers	jambernes

Derived terms

• jambisk

Further reading

• “jambe” in Den Danske Ordbog
• “jambe” in Ordbog over det danske Sprog

Dutch

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjɑmbə/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

jambe m or f (plural jamben)

1. (poetry) iamb

Further reading

• “jambe” in Woordenlijst Nederlandse Taal – Officiële Spelling, Nederlandse Taalunie. [the official spelling word list for the Dutch language]

French

Etymology

Inherited from Old French jambe, from Late Latin gamba, from Ancient Greek καμπή (kampḗ), from Proto-Indo-European *kamp- (“to bend; crooked”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʒɑ̃b/

• audio

  (file)

Noun

jambe f (plural jambes)

1. leg

   Il marche sur ses deux jambes. ― He walks with his two legs.

   par-dessus la jambe ― off-handedly

Derived terms

• à toutes jambes
• avoir des fourmis dans les jambes
• avoir les jambes en coton
• avoir une tête et des jambes
• enjamber
• faire des ronds de jambe
• faire une belle jambe
• jambage
• jambe de bois
• jambière
• jambon
• la queue entre les jambes
• par-dessous la jambe
• par-dessus la jambe
• partie de jambes en l’air
• prendre ses jambes à son cou
• s’étirer les jambes
• tenir la jambe
• tenir sur ses jambes

 

Related terms

• gambader
• ingambe

Further reading

• “jambe”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Lithuanian

Noun

jámbe

1. locative/vocative singular of jámbas (“iamb”)

Old French

Alternative forms

• gambe
• (Picardy) ganbe

Etymology

From Late Latin gamba, from Ancient Greek κάμπη (kámpē).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (early) /ˈd͡ʒãmbə/
• IPA^(key): (late) /ˈʒãmbə/
• Homophones: gambe, ganbe

Noun

jambe oblique singular, f (oblique plural jambes, nominative singular jambe, nominative plural jambes)

1. leg

Derived terms

• gambon
  • French: jambon (see there for further descendants)
  • → Middle English: gambon
    • English: gammon

Descendants

• Middle French: jambe, gambe
  • French: jambe
  • → Middle English: gambe
    • English: gamb
  • → Middle English: jambe
    • English: jamb
• Norman: gambe
• Picard: gambe
• Walloon: djambe

Spanish

Verb

jambe

1. only used in me jambe, first-person singular present subjunctive of jambarse
2. only used in se jambe, third-person singular present subjunctive of jambarse
3. only used in se ... jambe, syntactic variant of jámbese, third-person singular imperative of jambarse