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dimity

[dim-i-tee]
noun, plural dim·i·ties.
  1. a thin cotton fabric, white, dyed, or printed, woven with a stripe or check of heavier yarn.
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Origin of dimity

1400–50; earlier dimite, late Middle English demyt < Medieval Latin dimettum < Greek dímiton, noun use of neuter of dímitos double-threaded, equivalent to di- di-1 + mít(os) warp thread + -os adj. suffix; source of final syllable unclear
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for dimity

Historical Examples

  • There, on a little white bed with dimity curtains, lay the form of Isobel.

    Salted With Fire

    George MacDonald

  • One was cambric, one was fine lawn or nainsook, and one of dimity.

    A Little Girl in Old New York

    Amanda Millie Douglas

  • It can be made of silk or of dimity at 12½ cents a yard, and need not then cost more than 15 cents.

  • I wonder if father hasn't got some other dimity in the store.

  • Betty says it'll match out her dimity, and I 'low to match Betty as long as I can.

    The Golden Bird

    Maria Thompson Daviess

British Dictionary definitions for dimity

dimity

noun plural -ties
    1. a light strong cotton fabric with woven stripes or squares
    2. (as modifier)a dimity bonnet
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Word Origin

C15: from Medieval Latin dimitum, from Greek dimiton, from di- 1 + mitos thread of the warp
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 dimity

n.

mid-15c., from Italian dimiti, plural of dimito, a name for a kind of strong cotton cloth, from Medieval Latin dimitum, from Greek dimitos "of double thread," from di- (see di- (1)) + mitos "warp thread, thread" (see mitre).

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper