Meanings
plural barmcloths
- archaicAn apron.
His mother o'er her barm-cloth wide / Gazed forward somewhat timidly / The new-comer's bright weed to see.
1870, William Morris, “September: The Land East of the Sun and West of the Moon”, in The Earthly Paradise: A Poem, part III, London: F[rederick] S[tartridge] Ellis, […], →OCLC, page 801 more example
The knaves followed and banged the pots, and the girls held up their barmcloths filled with blossom heads, but they stinted at the bridge across Sir Guy's ditch, while Anto and Will went through the gate.
2019, James Meek, To Calais, In Ordinary Time
Origin
- Old Englishbearmclāþ“apron”
- Middle Englishbarmcloth
- Englishbarmcloth
From Middle English barmcloth, barmclothe, barmecloth, from Old English bearmclāþ (“apron”), analysable as barm + cloth.
More words from Middle English, Old English
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
barmcloth. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barmcloth
“barmcloth.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barmcloth. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “barmcloth,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/barmcloth.
Source: barmcloth on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.