camisole

noun, verb — 4 senses

camisole

noun

UK /ˈkamɪsəʊl/

Etymology From French camisole, from Old Occitan camisola, diminutive of camisa (“shirt”).

1

A short, sleeveless undergarment worn by women underneath a blouse, or as a form of short négligée.

  • A visible bra strap, a bit of camisole peeking, a partially exposed thong: Innerwear slinks into a new role2004, Marisa Kula, “Lingerie Sashays into Outerwear”, in The Oregonian:
2

Dated A straitjacket.

3

Historical A light jacket with sleeves.

Derived terms
camikini, camiknickers, camisoled

camisole

verb

Etymology From French camisole, from Old Occitan camisola, diminutive of camisa (“shirt”).

1

Dated To straitjacket.

  • If, in viewing the question from its sentimental aspect, you deplore the insult offered to manly dignity by camisoling a fellow-creature, let me ask if this manly dignity is not already compromised by the fact of patients covering themselves with ordure, denuding and mutilating themselves and striking those about them?1881, Thirty-Eighth Annual Report of the Managers of the State Lunatic Asylum, Utica N. Y., for the Year 1880, Albany, N.Y.: Weed, Parsons and Company, […], pages 54–55:
  • He believes it better to camisole a patient than to seclude him.1882, The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, New York, N.Y.: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, page 821:
1 more example
  • She had been camisoled, and fastened in bed, with “ties of muslin cloth about fifteen inches wide,” and left alone for the night, during which, her struggles “had so increased the pressure of the ties as to produce considerable swelling” and increased discoloration.1884, The American Psychological Journal, volume II, page 164:

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.