Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

midinette

[mid-n-et; French mee-dee-net]
noun, plural mid·i·nettes [mid-n-ets; French mee-dee-net] /ˌmɪd nˈɛts; French mi diˈnɛt/.
  1. a young Parisian saleswoman or seamstress.
Show More

Origin of midinette

1905–10; < French, blend of midi noon and dînette light meal (see dinner, -ette); hence, one who has time for only a light meal at noon, with play on -ette as a feminine personal suffix, as in grisette grisette
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for midinette

Historical Examples

  • The solo is Massenet, simon-pure Massenet, the idol of the Paris midinette.

    The Merry-Go-Round

    Carl Van Vechten

  • Then we chatted discreetly with a Paris midinette at the gate of the farm.

  • As a whole the midinette class is badly fed and therefore delicate and too often a prey to consumption.

    France

    Gordon Cochrane Home

  • Desnoyers knew all about his relations (so far honorable) with a midinette from the rue Taitbout.

British Dictionary definitions for midinette

midinette

noun plural -nettes (-ˈnɛts, French -nɛt)
  1. a Parisian seamstress or salesgirl in a clothes shop
Show More

Word Origin

C20: from French, from midi noon + dinette light meal, since the girls had time for no more than a snack at midday
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