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chintz

[chints]
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noun
  1. a printed cotton fabric, glazed or unglazed, used especially for draperies.
  2. a painted or stained calico from India.
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Origin of chintz

1605–15; earlier chints, plural of chint < Gujarati chī̃ṭ
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for chintz

Historical Examples

  • Besides, I have no fancy for that ferret-faced Chintz becoming one of our party.

    The Hound From The North

    Ridgwell Cullum

  • “Take this plug and give him a rub down, Chintz,” said Iredale.

  • But what would Chirsty be doin' gettin' the chintz an' the fender in that case?

    A Window in Thrums

    J. M. Barrie

  • Pen had achieved the homelike with some chintz hangings and a rug.

    Still Jim

    Honor Willsie Morrow

  • And my two nieces are next door, I see, as gay as chintz can make them.

    The Light of Scarthey

    Egerton Castle

British Dictionary definitions for chintz

chintz

noun
  1. a printed, patterned cotton fabric, with glazed finish
  2. a painted or stained Indian calico
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Word Origin

C17: from Hindi chīnt, from Sanskrit citra gaily-coloured
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 chintz

n.

1719, plural of chint (1610s), from Hindi chint, from Sanskrit chitra-s "clear, bright" (cf. cheetah). The plural (the more common form of the word in commercial use) became regarded as singular by late 18c., and for unknown reason shifted -s to -z; perhaps after quartz. Disparaging sense, from the commonness of the fabric, is first recorded 1851 in George Eliot (in chintzy).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper