diaper

[dahy-per, dahy-uh-per]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR diaper ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

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.

verb (used with object)

to put a diaper on.

to ornament with a diaperlike pattern.

Origin of diaper

1300–50; Middle English diapre < Anglo-French dia(s)p(r)e < Medieval Latin diasprus made of diaper < Medieval Greek díaspros pure white, equivalent to Greek di- di-³ + Medieval Greek áspros white

Related formsun·dia·pered, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for diaper

ingrain, chisel, inscribe, imprint, etch, embed, stipple, cut, scratch, fix, burn, impress, lodge, ornament, initial, instill, hatch, print, infix, bite

Examples from the Web for diaper

Contemporary Examples of diaper

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.
The Insane $11 Billion Scam at Retailers’ Return Desks
M.L. Nestel
December 19, 2014
It is one thing to insist a 2-year-old submit to a diaper change even if she is unwilling.
Is It Wrong for Parents to Lock Up Their Disabled Kids?
Elizabeth Picciuto
August 4, 2014
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.
When An Adopted Child Won’t Attach
Tina Traster
May 2, 2014
My nostrils have smelt the horrors of the (cloth) diaper pail.
Why Men Shouldn’t Wait To Have Kids
Conor P. Williams
March 8, 2014

Historical Examples of diaper

She had changed Naples into a diaper of jewels sparkling softly in the void.
A Spirit in Prison
Robert Hichens
On a third floor line was a baby's diaper, still implanted with filth.
L'Assommoir
Emile Zola
At the diaper level, life is just one damp thing after another.
Lighter Than You Think
Nelson Bond
A decidedly yellow stain on the diaper occurs when there is jaundice.
The Mother and Her Child
William S. Sadler
A simple form of diaper as a beginning is shown at fig. 104.
Bookbinding, and the Care of Books
Douglas Cockerell

British Dictionary definitions for diaper

diaper

noun

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

verb

(tr) to decorate with such a pattern

Word Origin for diaper

C14: from Old French diaspre, from Medieval Latin diasprus made of diaper, from Medieval Greek diaspros pure white, from dia- + aspros white, shining

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 diaper

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.

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.