Meanings
plural samites
- countableuncountableA material of rich silk, sometimes with gold threads, especially prized during the Middle Ages.
[A] robe / Of samite without price, that more exprest / Than hid her, clung about her lissome limbs, / In colour like the satin-shining palm / On sallows in the windy gleams of March: [...]
1859, Alfred Tennyson, “Vivien”, in Idylls of the King, London: Edward Moxon & Co., […], →OCLC, pages 104–1051 more example
And in the center of that lake there hath for some time been seen the appearance as of a women's arm--exceedingly beautiful and clad in white samite, and the hand of this arm holdeth a sword of such exceeding excellence and beauty that no eye hath ever beheld like.
1903, Howard Pyle, The Story of King Arthur and His Knights
Origin
- Medieval Greekἑξάμιτον
- Medieval Latinsamitum
- Old Frenchsamit
- Middle Englishsamite
- Englishsamite
From Middle English samite, from Old French samit, from Medieval Latin samitum, examitum, from Medieval Greek ἑξάμιτον (hexámiton), from ἕξ (héx, “six”) + μίτος (mítos, “thread”).
More words from Middle English, Old French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
samite. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/samite
“samite.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/samite. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “samite,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/samite.
Source: samite on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.