samite

[sam-ahyt, sey-mahyt]

noun

1. a heavy silk fabric, sometimes interwoven with gold, worn in the Middle Ages.

samite

/ ˈsæmaɪt, ˈseɪ- /

noun

1. a heavy fabric of silk, often woven with gold or silver threads, used in the Middle Ages for clothing

Word History and Origins

Origin of samite¹

1300–50; Middle English samit < Old French < Medieval Latin examitium, samitium < Greek hexámiton, neuter of hexámitos having six threads. See hexa-, mitosis

Word History and Origins

Origin of samite¹

C13: from Old French samit, from Medieval Latin examitum, from Greek hexamiton, from hexamitos having six threads, from hex six + mitos a thread

Example Sentences

He was standing with his arms out straight while they draped him with ermine, velvet, samite, brocade, and cloth of gold.

From Literature

It concairned a hand and arm, in samite, with a bridle and a candle in its gripe.

From Literature

Textile experts at the Anglo-Saxon Laboratory in York, England, identified several samples as silk samite, a luxury fabric produced in weavers’ workshops in Byzantium, North Africa, or southern Spain.

From National Geographic

In his honor Daenerys had donned a Qartheen gown, a sheer confection of violet samite cut so as to leave her left breast bare.

From Literature

Her feet were bare, her golden hair artfully tousled, her robe a green-and-gold samite that caught the light of the candles and shimmered as she looked up.

From Literature

Related Words

• fiber 
• taffeta 
• thread 
• tulle