Meanings
plural chemisettes
- 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
- Proto-Germanic*hamô
- Proto-West Germanic*hamō
- Proto-West Germanic*hamiþi
- Late Latincamisia
- Old Frenchchemise
- Frenchchemise
- Frenchchemisette
- Englishchemisette
Borrowed from French chemisette.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
chemisette. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chemisette
“chemisette.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chemisette. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “chemisette,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/chemisette.
Source: chemisette on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.