Phrase guide

chain mail

noun · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A flexible defensive armor, made of a mesh of interlinked metal rings.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: uncountable, usually

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A chain letter.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: collective, countable, sometimes, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

(Middle Ages) flexible armor made of interlinked metal rings

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: ring mail, mail, chain armor, chain armour, ring armor, ring armour

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: body armor, body armour, suit of armor, suit of armour, coat of mail, cataphract

Narrower terms: brigandine, habergeon, hauberk, byrnie, voider, gusset

History

Etymology

chain + mail; attested since the 1780s.

From mail.

Across languages

Translations

52 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: thurak — a flexible defensive armor
  • Arabic: زَرَد (zarad) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Armenian: օղազրահ (ōġazrah) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Bashkir: тимер күлдәк (timer küldək) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Bashkir: һайман (hayman) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Burmese: သံချပ် (samhkyap) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Catalan: cota de malla — a flexible defensive armor
  • Catalan: cota de malles — a flexible defensive armor
  • Chinese Mandarin: 鎖子甲 /锁子甲 (suǒzijiǎ) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Czech: kroužkové brnění — a flexible defensive armor
  • Czech: kroužková zbroj — a flexible defensive armor
  • Danish: ringbrynje — a flexible defensive armor
  • Dutch: maliënkolder — a flexible defensive armor
  • Esperanto: maŝkiraso — a flexible defensive armor
  • Finnish: silmukkapanssari — a flexible defensive armor
  • Finnish: rengashaarniska — a flexible defensive armor
  • French: cotte de mailles — a flexible defensive armor
  • Galician: cota — a flexible defensive armor
  • Georgian: თორი (tori) — a flexible defensive armor
  • German: Kettenrüstung — a flexible defensive armor
  • German: Kettenpanzer — a flexible defensive armor
  • Greek: αλυσιδωτή πανοπλία (alysidotí panoplía) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Hungarian: páncéling — a flexible defensive armor
  • Ingrian: rautapaita — a flexible defensive armor
  • Italian: cotta di maglia — a flexible defensive armor
  • Japanese: 鎖帷子 (kusarikatabira) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Korean: 쇄자갑 (swaejagap) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Latin: donec posuere — a flexible defensive armor
  • Latin: armorum — a flexible defensive armor
  • Macedonian: вери́жница (verížnica) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Macedonian: панцирна кошула (pancirna košula) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Norwegian Bokmål: ringbrynje — a flexible defensive armor
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: brynje — a flexible defensive armor
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: ringbrynje — a flexible defensive armor
  • Old English: hlenċa — a flexible defensive armor
  • Persian: زره (zere) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Polish: kolczuga — a flexible defensive armor
  • Portuguese: cota de malha — a flexible defensive armor
  • Russian: кольчу́га (kolʹčúga) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Serbo-Croatian: lančana košulja — a flexible defensive armor
  • Serbo-Croatian: верижњача — a flexible defensive armor
  • Serbo-Croatian: verižnjača — a flexible defensive armor
  • Siberian Tatar: ҡуйаҡ (quyaq) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Southern Altai: куйак (kuyak) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Southern Altai: кӧӧ (köö) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Spanish: cota de malla — a flexible defensive armor
  • Swedish: ringbrynja — a flexible defensive armor
  • Turkish: örme zincir — a flexible defensive armor
  • Ukrainian: кольчу́га (kolʹčúha) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Uyghur: қуяқ (quyaq) — a flexible defensive armor
  • Finnish: ketjukirjeet — chain letters collectively
  • Serbo-Croatian: forvarduša — chain letters collectively