Meanings
partlet1
plural partlets
- archaicA hen (originally in the form Dame Partlet).First known use 14th c.
How now, dame Partlett the hen?
c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iii]
partlet2
plural partlets
- archaichistoricalA covering for the neck and upper chest, originally worn by both sexes, but later especially by women to cover a low neckline.First known use 16th c.
A black witch known as Mother She was going along Front Street toward the store, a frail bent shape in black partlet with cane laboring brokenly through the heat.
1979, Cormac McCarthy, Suttree, Random House, page 651 more example
On 1 February 1505, he ordered a new set of clothes for prince: an arming doublet of black satin, with fashionable detachable sleeves, and with it an arming partlet or under-collar […]
2011, Thomas Penn, Winter King, Penguin, published 2012, page 189
Origin
partlet · noun
Origin unknown; perhaps a diminutive form of pert, or from its habit of ruffling the feathers round its neck; see Etymology 2 below.
Full word history & related roots →partlet · noun
Origin unknown. Possibly from the mediaeval French name Pertelote.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
partlet. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/partlet
“partlet.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/partlet. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “partlet,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/partlet.
Source: partlet on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.