Monday, September 14, 2015

Word of the day: bombazine

The word of the day is bombazine:
 
  1. a twill fabric constructed of a silk or rayon warp and worsted filling, often dyed black for mourning wear.
(also bombasine, bambazine), 1550s, from Fr. bombasin (14c.) "cotton cloth," from M.L. bombacinium "silk texture," from L.L. bombycinium, neut. of bombycinius "silken," from bombyx "silk, silkworm," from Gk. bombyx. The post-classical transfer of the word from "silk" to "cotton" may reflect the perceived "silk-like" nature of the fabric, or a waning of familiarity with genuine silk in the European Dark Ages, but cf. bombast. (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bombazine)

"There they sat, burning under their serge and bombazine with emotions hotter than gentility could quite allow."

 - Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose

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