diaper
- a piece of cloth or other absorbent material folded and worn as underpants by a baby not yet toilet-trained.
- Also called diaper cloth. a linen or cotton fabric with a woven pattern of small, constantly repeated figures, as diamonds.
- Also called diaper pattern. such a pattern, originally used in the Middle Ages in weaving silk and gold.
- to put a diaper on.
- to ornament with a diaperlike pattern.
Origin of diaper
Examples from the Web for diaper
Contemporary Examples
On one summer lunch hour, Donna Ann Levonuk, 50, lifted a tub of diaper cream priced at $43.98—and then stashed it in her purse.
It is one thing to insist a 2-year-old submit to a diaper change even if she is unwilling.
Even though my dad was the breadwinner, he always had this joke that he changed my diaper once, so she had a lot on her plate.
Patricia Arquette Uncut: Drunken Mischief with Johnny Depp, ‘True Romance’ Crush, and ‘Boyhood’Marlow Stern
July 16, 2014
At home, I changed her diaper and slotted her into her high chair.
My nostrils have smelt the horrors of the (cloth) diaper pail.
Historical Examples
She had changed Naples into a diaper of jewels sparkling softly in the void.
A Spirit in PrisonRobert Hichens
On a third floor line was a baby's diaper, still implanted with filth.
L'AssommoirEmile Zola
At the diaper level, life is just one damp thing after another.
Lighter Than You ThinkNelson Bond
A decidedly yellow stain on the diaper occurs when there is jaundice.
The Mother and Her ChildWilliam S. Sadler
A simple form of diaper as a beginning is shown at fig. 104.
Bookbinding, and the Care of BooksDouglas Cockerell
diaper
- US and Canadian a piece of soft material, esp towelling or a disposable material, wrapped around a baby in order to absorb its excrementAlso called (in Britain and certain other countries): nappy
- a woven pattern on fabric consisting of a small repeating design, esp diamonds
- fabric having such a pattern
- such a pattern, used as decoration
- (tr) to decorate with such a pattern
Word Origin
Word Origin and History for diaper
n.
mid-14c., "fabric with a repeated pattern of figures," from Old French diaspre "ornamental cloth; flowered, patterned silk cloth," perhaps via Medieval Latin diasprum from Medieval Greek diaspros "thoroughly white," or perhaps "white interspersed with other colors," from dia- (see dia-) + aspros "white."
Aspros originally meant "rough," and was applied to the raised parts of coins (among other things), and thus was used in Byzantine Greek to mean "silver coin," from which the bright, shiny qualities made it an adjective for whiteness. Modern sense of "underpants for babies" is continuous since 1837, but such usage has been traced back to 1590s.
v.
late 14c., "to put a small, repeated pattern on," from Old French diaprer, variant of diasprer, from diaspre (see diaper (n.)). Meaning "to put a diaper on" (a baby) is attested by 1951. Related: Diapered; diapering.