chintz
noun/t͡ʃɪnts/
Etymology Borrowed from Hindi छींट (chī̃ṭ).
1
A painted or stained calico fabric, originally produced in India, and known for its brightly colored designs.
- The morning air waved to and fro the chintz curtains of a large and, for a London one, a very cheerful-looking room, whose windows opened to the Thames.1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Chamber of Death”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 263:
- And Presently Melisande withdrew. Her mistress, in a white peignoir tied with a blue sash, lay in a great chintz chair, gazing out of the bay-window. The quadrangle below was very beautiful, with its walls of rugged grey, its cloisters, its grass carpet.1911, Max Beerbohm, chapter II, in Zuleika Dobson:
1 more example
- He gazed around until on the lid of a spinet he spotted a promising collection of bottles, […] a meerschaum pipe and a jar half-full of wasps and apricot jam. He found some glasses which didn't look very clean and polished them on a chintz window curtain.1956, Delano Ames, chapter 14, in Crime out of Mind:
- Derived terms
- chintzified, chintzware, chintzy