tarlatan

[ tahr-luh-tn, -tuhn ]

noun

a thin, plain-weave, open-mesh cotton fabric finished with stiffening agents and sometimes glazed.

Origin of tarlatan

First recorded in 1720–30; from French tarlatane, dissimilated variant of tarnatane kind of cloth originally imported from India; further origin unknown

Words Nearby tarlatan

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use tarlatan in a sentence

The beams rose high above their heads, and a musty smell of tarlatan and muslin and cheese-cloth filled the air.
Smith College Stories | Josephine Dodge Daskam
tarlatan can now be had in hues that almost rival the colours of flowers, but I fear that only the white can be had "fire-proof."
The Peace Egg and Other tales | Juliana Horatia Ewing
There were some pretty girls swimming about in tasteful whip-syllabub of puffed tarlatan.
The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 13, No. 78, April, 1864 | Various
I rather liked myself in my home-made white tarlatan, feeling very much dressed in my first low neck.
Our Philadelphia | Elizabeth Robins Pennell
My white tarlatan and my Second Street silk had grown shabby before the winter was half over.
Our Philadelphia | Elizabeth Robins Pennell

British Dictionary definitions for tarlatan

tarlatan

/ (ˈtɑːlətən) /

noun

an open-weave cotton fabric, used for stiffening garments

Origin of tarlatan

C18: from French tarlatane, variant of tarnatane type of muslin, perhaps of Indian origin

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

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