Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A device for
registering the shape of ahead so that a precisely-fittinghat may be made.
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Support
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Examples
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Anne sez: Here's some confirmation of the hat-fitting hypothesis: a picture of a similar hat-fitting device, a "conformateur", apparently patented in the 1850s by one Monsieur Maillard.
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Rand then brings out the conformateur, which looks like the offspring of a homburg and a manual typewriter.
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The conformateur, used by 19th-century hatmakers Rand's four conformateurs are all more than 100 years old, is pressed down upon you to produce a paper template of your skull in all its imperfection.
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As a lover of both words and hats, I welcome the conformateur to this space.
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The answer was revealed at BoingBoing by Mel Johnson and Anne of Explananda: it's a conformateur, a device "apparently patented in the 1850s by one Monsieur Maillard" for registering the exact shape of a head so that a hat can be made to fit it precisely and an obscure enough word that it's not in the OED.
Comments
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