wams

From Middle High German wambes, wambeis, from Old French wambais, from Medieval Latin wambāsium, bambāsium. This is predominantly considered a derivative of Frankish *wamba, from Proto-Germanic *wambō (“belly, womb”), making Wams a doublet of Wamme (“dewlap”) and Wampe (“potbelly, paunch”). Alternative etymology derives it from Latin bambax (“coton”), from Ancient Greek πάμβαξ (pámbax), in which case, however, the Romance w- is difficult to explain. More at gambeson.