poulaine

[poo-leyn]

noun

1. a shoe or boot with an elongated pointed toe, fashionable in the 15th century.

2. the toe on such a shoe.

Word History and Origins

Origin of poulaine¹

1520–30; < Middle French Poulaine Poland (in the phrase souliers à la Poulaine shoes of Polish style); compare Anglo-French poleine

Example Sentences

A study in 2005 of medieval remains found hallux valgus - a small deformity of the big toe with a bony protrusion at its base, more commonly known as bunions - exclusively in corpses from the poulaine era.

From BBC

And a 2021 study found that those who lived in more fashionable neighbourhoods during the height of the poulaine fashion were far more likely to have bunions, misshapen feet, and bone fractures in the arms associated with injury from falling.

From BBC

Fashions are, by nature, of a particular time - and by 1475 the trend of the poulaine was largely over.

From BBC

Poulaine, pōō-lān′, n. a long, pointed shoe.

From Project Gutenberg

Madeleine knew him by sight, the six-year-old grandson of Madame Dulcet, a bedridden, old, poor woman on Poulaine Street.

From Project Gutenberg