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corduroy

[kawr-duh-roi, kawr-duh-roi]
See more synonyms on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a cotton-filling pile fabric with lengthwise cords or ridges.
  2. corduroys, trousers made of this fabric.
adjective
  1. of, relating to, or resembling corduroy.
  2. constructed of logs laid together transversely, as a road across swampy ground.
verb (used with object)
  1. to form (a road or the like) by laying logs transversely.
  2. to make a corduroy road across or along.

Origin of corduroy

1780–90; perhaps cord (cf. cords) + duroy, deroy (now obsolete) a woolen fabric originating in W England; later taken as French cord du roy the king's cords, though the fabric had no connection with France
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for corduroys

Historical Examples

  • The second girl is in rags, and a shawl; and the second youth in shirt and corduroys.

    The Little Dream (Second Series Plays)

    John Galsworthy

  • So neat in his dress was Sanders, that he was seldom seen abroad in corduroys.

    A Window in Thrums

    J. M. Barrie

  • Possibly my friend, the Faded Misanthrope in corduroys, is station-master.

  • A large man in corduroys and top boots advanced to meet Carley.

  • Some of our own contemporaries we hate particularly; Cobbett, for instance, and other bad fellows in fustian and corduroys.

British Dictionary definitions for corduroys

corduroys

pl n
  1. trousers or breeches of corduroy

corduroy

noun
    1. a heavy cotton pile fabric with lengthways ribs
    2. (as modifier)a corduroy coat
    See also corduroys

Word Origin

C18: perhaps from the proper name Corderoy
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for corduroys

corduroy

n.

1780, probably from cord + obsolete 17c. duroy, name of a coarse fabric made in England, of unknown origin. Folk etymology is from *corde du roi "the king's cord," but this is not attested in French, where the term for the cloth was velours à côtes. Applied in U.S. to a road of logs across swampy ground (1780s) on similarity of appearance.

CORDUROY ROAD. A road or causeway constructed with logs laid together over swamps or marshy places. When properly finished earth is thrown between them by which the road is made smooth; but in newly settled parts of the United States they are often left uncovered, and hence are extremely rough and bad to pass over with a carriage. Sometimes they extend many miles. They derive their name from their resemblance to a species of ribbed velvet, called corduroy. [Bartlett]
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper