The word 'gambrel' is a loan word from French 'gambre'

'Gambrel' is a word borrowed from French 'gambre'. The word entered the English language some time around 1547.

gambrel [noun] [1547]

A stick or iron for suspending slaughtered animals
Etymology: Perhaps from Middle French dialect (Norman) 'gamberel' from 'gambe' leg, from Late Latin 'gamba'.

Topics: Architecture:Elements.

Origin: From French to Latin to English.

note: Derived from Middle English gamberel and Old French gambre meaning a horse's hock or leg. It was used to describe the hinged stick used by butchers to hang carcasses which shares a similar shape to a gambrel roof. Origin of gambrel roof: Popularized by Dutch colonial architecture in the 17th/18th centuries - the name stems from the Medieval Latin gamba meaning horse's hock.

See 'gambrel' on the Loan Words Map

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