jamb

/ˈjam/

Middle English jambe, borrowed from Anglo-French jambe, gaunbe "side post of a door or window," literally, "leg," going back to Late Latin gamba, camba "hock or upper leg of a horse," borrowed from Greek kampḗ "bend, curve, flexion of a limb," probably going back to a European substratal base *kamp-, whence also perhaps Lithuanian kam̃pas "corner, hidden place," Latvian kampis "curved piece of wood, kettle hook," Germanic *hamfa-, whence Old Saxon hāf "lame (of hand), crippled," gihāfid "paralyzed, crippled," Old High German hamf "having a useless hand, lame," Gothic hamfs "maimed"

noun

  1. an upright piece or surface forming the side of an opening (as for a door, window, or fireplace)

  2. a projecting columnar part or mass