linguistic:paraphrasing
Etymology

The origin of the word mail are not fully known. One theory is that it originally derives from the Latin word macula, meaning 'spot' or 'opacity' (as in macula of retina). Another theory relates the word to the old French maillier, meaning 'to hammer' (related to the modern English word malleable). In modern French, maille refers to a loop or stitch. The Arabic words burnus (برنوس ' burnoose, a hooded cloak', also a chasuble worn by Coptic priests) and barnaza (برنز 'to bronze') suggest an Arabic influence for the Carolingian armour known as byrnie (see below).

The first attestations of the word mail are in Old French and Anglo-Norman: maille, maile, or male or other variants, which became mailye, maille, maile, male, or meile in Middle English.

Civilizations that used mail invented specific terms for each garment made from it. The standard terms for European mail armour derive from French: leggings are called chausses, a hood is a mail coif, and mittens, mitons. A mail collar hanging from a helmet is a camail or aventail. A shirt made from mail is a hauberk if knee-length and a haubergeon if mid-thigh length. A layer (or multiple layers) of mail sandwiched between layers of fabric is called a jazerant.

A waist-length coat in medieval Europe was called a byrnie, although the exact construction of a byrnie is unclear, including whether it was constructed of mail or other armour types. Noting that the byrnie was the "most highly valued piece of armour" to the Carolingian soldier, Bennet, Bradbury, DeVries, Dickie, and Jestice indicate that:

There is some dispute among historians as to what exactly constituted the Carolingian byrnie. Relying... only on artistic and some literary sources because of the lack of archaeological examples, some believe that it was a heavy leather jacket with metal scales sewn onto it with strong thread. It was also quite long, reaching below the hips and covering most of the arms. Other historians claim instead that the Carolingian byrnie was nothing more than a coat of mail, but longer and perhaps heavier than traditional early medieval mail. Without more certain evidence, this dispute will continue.