Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. Household linen, especially table linen.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Linen cloths used for domestic purposes, especially for the table; table-cloths, napkins, etc.
- n. Linen worn on the person; linen underclothing.
Wiktionary
- n. Household linen, especially table linen.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. obsolete Table linen; also, linen clothing, or linen in general.
WordNet 3.0
- n. linens for the dining table
Etymologies
- From Anglo-Norman naperie, Middle French naperie, from nape + -erie. (Wiktionary)
- Middle English naperie, from Old French, from nape, nappe, tablecloth; see nappe. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“A house-keeper should have a large chest to contain napery which is not to be used every day.”
“There was a flurry of towels, then of napery—fresh tablecloth, fresh napkins—silverware and clean glasses.”
“But the tables are set in those restaurants that have napery, such as "Delmonico's, 56 Beaver Street, 2009" and "Caf é Arbat, 306 Brighton Avenue, 2009," as if the curtain has just gone up and we are expected to make an entrance.”
“I must also admit to possessing one of the sillier varieties of napery ever conceived of by the victorians, who so loved to invent single use food accessories, we owe them the asparagus peeler, and the pickle fork, for example, the better to advertise their prosperity, and love of gimmick to their dinner guests.”
“The puritan weavers of Glasgow shall provide them plenty of broad-cloth, when we make a descent from the Highlands; and if the ministers could formerly preach the old women of the Scottish boroughs out of their webs of napery, to make tents to the fellows on”
“Out of a similar sideboard, properly draped with white napery and imitation lace, the Bishop had constructed the altar which decorated his oratory.”
“I must also admit to possessing one of the sillier varieties of napery ever conceived of by the victorians, who so loved to invent single use food accessories, (we owe them the asparagus peeler, and the pickle fork, for example), the better to advertise their prosperity, and love of gimmick to their dinner guests.”
“So, the tray being sat before them, they fell to and ate their fill; and when they had made an end of eating, they rose from meat and washed their hands with pure water and musk-scented soap, and dried them with napery embroidered in silk and bugles; but to Nur al-Din they brought a napkin laced with red gold whereon he wiped his hands.”
“British officers ate asparagus and oysters, their tables draped in linen napery, to the strains of “a full military orchestra wailing for the Swanee Ribber.””
“A commonsense diet based on both restraint and simple exercise, Guiliano's diet stresses that food consumption ought to be deliberate and pleasurable and done always sitting at table with appropriate napery.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘napery’.
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Russian Doll Words
A Russian Doll word is a word that, when you remove the first and last letters, is either the empty string, or a Russian Doll word. These are all of the 6 or more letter Russian Doll words found in...
taramea, tawings, tchicks, timider, tirades, tirings, towings, trailed, trailer, trained, trainee, trainer and 2373 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, N
nurdled, naumachia, nystagmus, nephology, nigh, noctilucent, noctambulant, nocebo, neap, napiform, nacelle, node and 95 more...
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Learned
ambergris, andiron, aphelion, austral, bellicose, boreal, bravura, chaff, chicanery, creditable, credulous, decamp and 223 more...
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spread out, spacious words of spe
words pertaining to the root spe- (hope) with some allegorical liberties.
paten, pan, pass, patent, petal, expand, repand, passacaglia, passe, paseo, paella, spawn and 150 more...
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looked up
Words I've come across while reading and looked up in the dictionary.
deesis, pendentive, revetment, aedicule, stemma, patera, ephod, entrepot, corbel, exedra, volute, archivolt and 1408 more...
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What's next here?
thunderhead, thundercloud, cumulus, cumulonimbus, fibrous, hazy, glaciated, cirrus, nimbus, meteorology, fahrenheit, thermoscope and 285 more...
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To verify definition
Words I've looked up to make sure I knew the correct definition.
megrim, noisome, somnolence, parabola, prehensile, slattern, apropos, panacea, teetotal, collegial, prie dieu, inexorably and 14 more...
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freerice words to learn
because the website is just that awesome.
allocution, embolism, napery, hemidemisemiquaver, bestir, moppet, ampoule, pullet, praenomen, philately, hauberk, ratiocination and 40 more...
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An Echo in the Bone
Words that were listed when reading An Echo in the Bone by Diana Gabaldon.
vivisection, emergent, portmanteau, apostrophize, apostrophe, dissentient, napery, adduce, provenance, vertiginious, spontoon, gorget and 25 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for napery.
yarb The little table in the adjoining room, on which Theron found his meal in waiting for him, seemed a vision of delicate napery and refined appointments in his eyes.
- Harold Frederic, The Damnation of Theron Ware, ch. 29 Aug 8, 2008
bilby "Lunch was in the dining room which would not have disgraced a moderately good hotel as a dining room. It was spacious with good napery and silverware, and the food was very good."
- 'Windfall', Desmond Bagley. Jan 6, 2008