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mantua

[man-choo-uh]
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noun
  1. a woman's loose gown worn as a robe or overdress in the early 18th century.
  2. a mantle.
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Origin of mantua

1670–80; variant of manteau, by association with Mantua

Mantua

[man-choo-uh]
noun
  1. a city in E Lombardy, in N Italy: birthplace of Vergil.
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Italian Man·to·va [mahn-taw-vah] /ˈmɑn tɔ vɑ/.
Related formsMan·tu·an, adjective, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for mantua

Historical Examples

  • "I am going to ride to Mantua," rejoined Lorenzi impatiently.

    Casanova's Homecoming

    Arthur Schnitzler

  • The Marquis Gonzaga of Mantua, in all seriousness, writes to relate this.

  • "Oh, that the Duchess were returned from Mantua," she sighed.

    Love-at-Arms

    Raphael Sabatini

  • I want to show it to some gentlemen who have come from the most reverend, the Cardinal of Mantua.

    Italy, the Magic Land

    Lilian Whiting

  • In Mantua the printer was a Jewish physician, who was helped by his wife.

British Dictionary definitions for mantua

mantua

noun
  1. a loose gown of the 17th and 18th centuries, worn open in front to show the underskirt
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Word Origin

C17: changed from manteau, through the influence of Mantua

Mantua

noun
  1. a city in N Italy, in E Lombardy, surrounded by lakes: birthplace of Virgil. Pop: 47 790 (2001)Italian name: Mantova
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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 mantua

n.

loose gown worn by women 17c.-18c., 1670s, from French manteau "cloak, mantle," from Old French mantel (see mantle); form influenced in English by Mantua, name of a city in Italy. Mantua-maker (1690s) became the general early 19c. term for "dressmaker."

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper