gambrel n.

"frolic, merrymaking," 1590s, earlier gambolde "a skipping, a leap or spring" (1510s), from French gambade (15c.), from Late Latin gamba "horse's hock or leg," from Greek kampē "a bending;" see jamb. The form was altered perhaps by confusion with the formerly common ending -aud, -ald (as in ribald).

late 14c., in heraldry, "a device in the shape of an inverted V," from Old French chevron "rafter; chevron" (13c.), so called because it looks like rafters of a shallow roof, from Vulgar Latin *caprione, from Latin caper "goat" (see cab); the hypothetical connection between goats and rafters being the animal's angular hind legs. Compare gambrel, also Latin capreolus "props, stays, short pieces of timber for support," literally "wild goat, chamoix."