chemisette

C3H4E1M3I1S1E1T1T1E1
/ˌʃɛmɪˈzɛt//ʃəˌmiˈzɛt/

noun

An item of women's clothing, popular in the 1860s and 1870s, worn to fill in the front and neckline of any garment.

Scrabble 17

Meanings

nounchemisette (plural chemisettes)

plural chemisettes

  1. An item of women's clothing, popular in the 1860s and 1870s, worn to fill in the front and neckline of any garment.
    1 more example

    [Of Italian peasants] And then their dress—the fine plaited chemisette close round the throat—the long gold ear-rings, those indispensables of their toilette—the black velvet boddice, showing the figure to such advantage, laced with gold and coloured silks—the full petticoat—the apron trimmed with gay ribands; all put on so neatly, and with such a fine taste for harmony of colouring.

    1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VIII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 122

Origin

  1. Proto-Germanic*hamô
  2. Proto-West Germanic*hamō
  3. Proto-West Germanic*hamiþi
  4. Late Latincamisia
  5. Old Frenchchemise
  6. Frenchchemise
  7. Frenchchemisette
  8. Englishchemisette

Borrowed from French chemisette.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

chemisette. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chemisette

MLA

“chemisette.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chemisette. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chemisette,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chemisette.

Source: chemisette on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.