chopine

American  

[choh-peen, chop-in] / tʃoʊˈpin, ˈtʃɒp ɪn /

Also chopin

noun

1. a shoe having a thick sole, usually of cork, suggesting a short stilt, worn especially by women in 18th-century Europe after its introduction from Turkey.

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chopine British  

/ tʃɒˈpiːn, ˈtʃɒpɪn /

noun

1. a sandal-like shoe on tall wooden or cork bases popular in the 18th century

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Etymology

Origin of chopine

1570–80; < Spanish chapín, equivalent to chap(a) (< Middle French chape chape ) + -in -in ¹

Example Sentences

One of the greatest follies ever introduced was the chopine, a sort of stilt which increased the height of the wearer.

From The Evolution of Fashion by Gardiner, Florence Mary

If so, does Hamlet speak jestingly when he greets the player, "Your ladyship is nearer heaven than when I saw you last, by the altitude of a chopine?"

From The Century Vocabulary Builder by Bachelor, Joseph M. (Joseph Morris)

The tallest chopine had a sole about nine inches thick.

From Two Centuries of Costume in America, Volume 1 (1620-1820) by Earle, Alice Morse

By'r lady, your ladyship is nearer to heaven than when I saw you last, by the altitude of a chopine.

From Hamlet by Shakespeare, William

Shakespeare refers to them when he makes Hamlet say:—"Your ladyship is nearer heaven than when I saw you last by the altitude of a chopine."

From The Evolution of Fashion by Gardiner, Florence Mary