Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A sheer, crisp cotton fabric with raised woven stripes or checks, used chiefly for curtains and dresses.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun pl. dimities (-tiz).
  • noun A stout cotton fabric ornamented in the loom with raised stripes or fancy figures, and usually employed undyed for bed and bedroom furniture. Patterns are sometimes printed upon it in colors.
  • noun A thin cotton fabric, either white or colored, resembling muslin, distinguished by raised threads or cords which run lengthwise of the cloth.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A cotton fabric employed for hangings and furniture coverings, and formerly used for women's under-garments. It is of many patterns, both plain and twilled, and occasionally is printed in colors.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a strong cotton fabric with a raised pattern; used for bedcovers and curtains

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English demyt, from Medieval Latin dimitum, from Greek dimiton, from neuter of dimitos, double-threaded : di-, two; see di– + mitos, thread.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Medieval Latin dimitum, from Byzantine Greek δίμιτον (dimiton), from Ancient Greek δίμιτος (dimitos, "of double thread").

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Examples

  • Her dress was of the simplest form, the only parts in view being a kind of dimity jacket tied dose up to the throat in front, and extending a short distance below the hips, with short sleeves, which left bare the arm from the elbow, and a blue dungaree petticoat with a checked apron.

    Ralph Rashleigh 2004

  • The "Burnet House" is the principal hotel here, and afforded me every comfort I could have expected, not the least being the satisfaction I derived from the sight of the proprietor, who, in the spotless cleanliness of his person and his "dimity," and surrounded by hosts of his travelling inmates -- myself among the number -- stood forth in bold relief, like a snowball in a coal-hole.

    Lands of the Slave and the Free Cuba, the United States, and Canada Henry A. Murray

  • It is the white light which comes in the dimity which is so hateful to me.

    The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett Browning, Robert, 1812-1889 1898

  • It is the white light which comes in the dimity which is so hateful to me.

    The Letters of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Barrett, Vol. 1 (of 2) 1845-1846 Robert Browning 1850

  • To show off the white-painted woodwork of the window's pediment and frieze, he chose cotton dimity sheers in a matching hue.

    The Full Monticello Jen Renzi 2011

  • So the Dickinson camp - that is, in the second generation, carried on by Martha Dickinson, Emily Dickinson's niece - presented a sentimental image of a pathetic Emily Dickinson in a dimity apron who had been in love all her life with one master, one man, and had gone into seclusion because she couldn't have him.

    Biography Speculates Emily Dickinson Had Epilepsy 2010

  • "Ounce, Dice, Trice" is a book for children that's full of words: magnificent, wonderful, strange, fabulous words like frangipani, dimity, gloaming and nunnery, and murdo, drumjargon and chumly.

    Kids' Book Boasts The Best Words, Real Or Not 2009

  • Bella ordered a dimity blouse and a flowered skirt (dirndl was the fashion) and came often to sit with Essie while she diligently sewed.

    What Happened to the Baby? 2006

  • Bella ordered a dimity blouse and a flowered skirt (dirndl was the fashion) and came often to sit with Essie while she diligently sewed.

    What Happened to the Baby? 2006

  • Steel and dimity and lacings defined but did not create the serpentine lines of the elegant figure, graceful as that of a young poplar swaying in the wind.

    Modeste Mignon 2007

Comments

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  • "The Berwick now had the wind two points free and she was tearing along under skysails and kites, a remarkable display of canvas and zeal. 'He don't spare the dimity,' Jack reflected: he frowned and shook his head..."

    --Patrick O'Brian, The Ionian Mission, 138

    February 13, 2008