tarlatan

American  

[tahr-luh-tn, -tuhn] / ˈtɑr lə tn, -tən /

noun

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

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tarlatan British  

/ ˈtɑːlətən /

noun

1. an open-weave cotton fabric, used for stiffening garments

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Etymology

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tarlatan

Later when the Company danced in the bull ring, rain wilted their tarlatan skirts.

From Time Magazine Archive

Isadora Duncan fought for freedom, seemed revolutionary when she appeared in soft Grecian costumes rather than stiffly-starched tarlatan, interpreted music according to her own personal reaction.

From Time Magazine Archive

So out came the tarlatan, looking older, limper, and shabbier than ever beside Sallie’s crisp new one.

From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott

We had prepared for them by laying in a bolt of black tarlatan at Wheeling,—greatly superior this, to ordinary white mosquito bar,—but thus far it has remained in the shopman's wrapper.

From Afloat on the Ohio An Historical Pilgrimage of a Thousand Miles in a Skiff, from Redstone to Cairo by Reuben Gold Thwaites

I wore pink tarlatan trimmed with rosebuds and a wreath of them in my hair.

From A Dear Little Girl's Thanksgiving Holidays by Amy Ella Blanchard