crinoline
[krin-l-in]
- a petticoat of haircloth or other stiff material, worn under a full skirt to keep it belled out.
- a stiff, coarse cotton material for interlining.
- a hoop skirt.
- a reinforcement of iron straps for holding together brickwork, as of a furnace or chimney.
Show More
Origin of crinoline
1820–30; < French < Italian crinolino, equivalent to crino horse-hair (≪ Latin crīnis hair) + lino flax < Latin līnum; cf. linen
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for crinoline
Historical Examples
An awkward predicament is as unfamiliar to me as a crinoline; I have never been in one.
A woman is ashamed to be without a crinoline or a bustle when all the rest wear them.
FolkwaysWilliam Graham Sumner
But Maryanne wore her hoops as a duchess wears her crinoline.
The Struggles of Brown, Jones, and RobinsonAnthony Trollope
Nor he you in an ordinary silk gown, puffed out with crinoline.
The BertramsAnthony Trollope
I saw them to-day, without any crinoline, pulling the garden-roller.
The Book of SnobsWilliam Makepeace Thackeray
crinoline
- a stiff fabric, originally of horsehair and linen used in lining garments
- a petticoat stiffened with this, worn to distend skirts, esp in the mid-19th century
- a framework of steel hoops worn for the same purpose
Show More
Word Origin
C19: from French, from Italian crinolino, from crino horsehair, from Latin crīnis hair + lino flax, from Latin līnum
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 crinoline
n.
1830, from French crinoline "hair cloth" (19c.), from Italian crinolino, from crino "horsehair" (from Latin crinis "hair") + lino "flax, thread," from Latin linum (see linen). So called from the warp and woof fibers of the original mixture.
Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper