Definitions

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

  • noun Articles, especially women's hats, sold by a milliner.
  • noun The profession or business of a milliner.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun The articles made or sold by a milliner.
  • noun The industry of making bonnets and other head-dresses for women. This work was formerly in the hands of men, but is now almost exclusively a women's occupation.

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

  • noun The articles made or sold by milliners, as headdresses, hats or bonnets, laces, ribbons, and the like.
  • noun The business of work of a milliner.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Women's hats.
  • noun A shop with women's hats.
  • noun The wares of a shop with women's hats.
  • noun The business and work that a milliner engages in.

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

  • noun hats for women; the wares sold by a milliner
  • noun shop selling women's hats

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

milliner +‎ -y (“(nominalizer)”)

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Examples

  • The students were "taught not only how to make attractive garments for themselves, but a trade by which they can support themselves" through a year-long course in millinery, dressmaking, or machine operation. 41 The timing of the course was planned so that after graduation in July, the girls would have some vacation time before the garment season began in the fall.

    "Make It Yourself": Home Sewing, Gender, and Culture, 1890-1930 2006

  • I said millinery, meaning your ribbons and finery.

    Marjorie's Busy Days Carolyn Wells 1902

  • He might perforate old dogmatical prejudices with a good deal of freedom so long as he did not begin bringing "millinery" into the service of the church.

    The Right of Way — Volume 01 Gilbert Parker 1897

  • He might perforate old dogmatical prejudices with a good deal of freedom so long as he did not begin bringing "millinery" into the service of the church.

    The Right of Way — Complete Gilbert Parker 1897

  • He might perforate old dogmatical prejudices with a good deal of freedom so long as he did not begin bringing "millinery" into the service of the church.

    The Project Gutenberg Complete Works of Gilbert Parker Gilbert Parker 1897

  • There are only a few kinds of improper "millinery" feathers that it is possible to sell here under the law.

    Our Vanishing Wild Life Its Extermination and Preservation William Temple Hornaday 1895

  • And I believe you are engaged in some kind of millinery business.

    In the Year of Jubilee George Gissing 1880

  • Despite criticism in the media the hat is believed to have rekindled British interest in millinery.

    Hats off to Princess Beatrice 2011

  • We're definitely expecting hats to start reappearing at weddings, a spokeswoman for the Hat Gallery, which sells designer millinery in London, says.

    Hats off to Princess Beatrice 2011

  • June 13 - 17 Reuters BUT PLENTY OF HORSES: A woman revels in her millinery on Ladies Day, the third day of racing at Royal Ascot in southern England, on Thursday.

    This Week: GOP Debate, Greek Respite, RIM Trouble 2011

Comments

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  • In the eighteenth century, the business of making and selling cloaks, hats, and linen articles such as aprons and caps, and of selling accessories, such as gloves, muffs, fans, and ribbons.

    Milliners were commonly women, and millinery one of the few trades open to women.

    February 5, 2007

  • "This work was formerly in the hands of men, but is now almost exclusively a women's occupation."

    Century Dictionary

    April 12, 2011

  • What I should have said about half the time I’ve used the word “haberdashery”.

    June 20, 2011