muslin
noun/ˈmʌz.lɪn/
Etymology From French mousseline, from Italian mussolina, from Mussolo (“Mosul”), that is Mosul in northern Iraq (compare 1875 Knight, Edward H., Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary, V2 p1502: "Muslins are so called from Moussol in India."). Doublet of mousseline.
7 senses
- 1Any of several varieties of thin cotton cloth.
- 2Fabric made of cotton, flax (linen), hemp, or silk…
- 3Any of a wide variety of tightly-woven thin fabrics…
- 4Woven cotton or linen fabrics, especially when used for…
- 5A dressmaker's pattern made from inexpensive cloth for fitting.
- 6Any of several different moths, especially the muslin…
- 7Woman as sex object; prostitute, as in a bit of muslin.
Usually Any of several varieties of thin cotton cloth.
- […] my pupils leave off their thick shoes and tight old tartan pelisses, and wear silk stockings and muslin frocks, as fashionable baronets' daughters should.1847 January – 1848 July, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 11, in Vanity Fair […], London: Bradbury and Evans […], published 1848, →OCLC:
- A bleached or unbleached thin white cotton cloth, unprinted and undyed. [Nineteen varieties are thereafter listed.]1875, Edward H. Knight, Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary, volume 2, page 1502:
1 more example
- It was April 22, 1831, and a young man was walking down Whitehall in the direction of Parliament Street. He wore shepherd's plaid trousers and the swallow-tail coat of the day, with a figured muslin cravat wound about his wide-spread collar.1906, Stanley J[ohn] Weyman, chapter I, in Chippinge Borough, New York, N.Y.: McClure, Phillips & Co., →OCLC, page 01:
US, Usually Fabric made of cotton, flax (linen), hemp, or silk, finely or coarsely woven.
- Other very different styles of fabric are now indifferently called muslins, and the term is used differently on the respective sides of the Atlantic.1875, Edward H. Knight, Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary, volume 2, pages 1502–1503:
Usually Any of a wide variety of tightly-woven thin fabrics, especially those used for bedlinen.
US, Usually Woven cotton or linen fabrics, especially when used for items other than garments.
Usually A dressmaker's pattern made from inexpensive cloth for fitting.
Usually Any of several different moths, especially the muslin moth, Diaphora mendica.
Usually Woman as sex object; prostitute, as in a bit of muslin.
- "That was a pretty bit of muslin hanging on your arm—who was she?” asked the fascinating student.1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 51, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
- Derived terms
- bit of muslin, book muslin, buke muslin, butter muslin, butter-muslin, muslined, muslin-kale, muslinlike, muslinoma, paper muslin