Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A crisp, smooth, plain-woven fabric with a slight sheen, made of various fibers, such as silk, rayon, or nylon, and used especially for women's garments.
- adj. Made of or resembling this fabric.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A silk or linen fabric: a name applied at different times to very different materials. In the sixteenth century it appears as thick and costly, and as used for dress for both men and women. In 1610 it is mentioned as being very soft and thin. “Chambers's Cyclopædia,” 1741, describes it as a very lnstrous silk, sometimes checkered or flowered, and sometimes striped with gold and silver. Modern taffeta is a thin glossy silk of a fine plain texture, being thus distinguished from gros-grain, which is corded, and surah, which is twilled.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A fine, smooth stuff of silk, having usually the wavy luster called
watering . The term has also been applied to different kinds of silk goods, from the 16th century to modern times.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a crisp smooth lustrous fabric
Etymologies
- From French taffetas, from Italian taffettà, from Persian تافته (tâfte). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old French taffetas, from Old Italian taffetà, from Turkish tafta, from Persian tāftah, silk or linen cloth, from past participle of tāftan, to twist, spin. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“She knew that the other girls would be well dressed, but she could not afford anything new, so she used some turquoise taffeta from a donated dress and combined it with a black velvet top and remembered being very pleased with the result. 50”
"Make It Yourself": Home Sewing, Gender, and Culture, 1890-1930
“In combining these weaves it is advantageous to have them contrast distinctly, for instance, a short weave such as taffeta or Gros de Tours, with a longer and looser one such as satin, sergé or cannele, also changes from warp to filling effects.”
“Weir, was derived from a kind of taffeta or ribbed silk which used to be called tabby silk.”
“There are few people who do not like the sheen of a soft silk, the sparkle of light on a "taffeta," and the richness of the silk that "can stand alone.”
“Fragile materials -- such as taffeta -- should be kept strictly for the evening, do you not agree?”
“Dresses come in varying lengths, from tea length to floor length, and can incorporate many materials such as taffeta or satin.”
TravelPod.com TravelStream™ — Recent Entries at TravelPod.com
“a kind of taffeta-lining to the Crown, his servility has assumed an air of the most determined independence, and he has”
“When graduation day arrived at last in June, I brushed my hands down the pink taffeta dress that Grandma had bought for ten dollars at our local thrift shop.”
“On the pretext of having sat on some ice cream, she excused herself and returned wearing a robe of looped taffeta.”
The Huffington Post: Cherie Burns: What Makes a Fashion Icon?
“But out stepped an elegant older woman wearing a Burberry taffeta trench coat and a hat.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘taffeta’.
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phrontistery-t
from phrontistery.info
tabacosis, tabanid, tabaret, tabati?re, tabby, tabefaction, tabellary, tabellion, tabernacle, tabernacular, tabescent, tabific and 930 more...
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my fab list
blowsabella, aperçu, froideur, salubrious, abject, gallipot, mumchance, wainscot, virago, macerate, lascivious, clandestine and 181 more...
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Not edible
Things that sound edible but are not (usually). See Liberty's To Eat, or Not to Eat? for more diet food.
cinnabar, dulcimer, belfries, potto, maltha, grapple, loam, rake, tort, pomade, buffalo chip, wedgie and 172 more...
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wallace
Remington, Windsor, prorector, wen, aver, mottle, seltzer, tepee, lapidary, effete, sotto, presbyopia and 355 more...
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Words For Novel (Part 2)
fable, sprite, syphilitic, anvil, wonderstruck, vertigo, bridled, tufted, fettered, savvy, tweed fedora, tryst and 255 more...
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permanent foreign residents in English
Foreign words and phrases that are perfectly acceptable to use in formal English writing, but still maintain the aura of foreignness. They do not enjoy full citizenship, but remain "alien residents...
prima facie, a priori, a posteriori, avant la lettre, corpus delicti, l'esprit de l'esc..., sans-culotte, memento mori, gesamtkunstwerk, amour propre, guru, deja vu and 25 more...
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smoooth
satined, sleek, glossy, legato, uncrannied, suave, smoothen, polish, satiny, flowing, levigate, politic and 78 more...
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Shopping From Home (For Words)
The list begins with evocative words I found in a Bed Bath & Beyond catalog, but other words in a similar vein are welcome, with two simple rules: they must come out of catalogs, and they can't...
sconce, mercer, urn, crock, pique, taffeta, chenille, ensemble, crescent, flocked, stockpot, microfiber and 40 more...
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Historical Costume Box
This is just sort of my "unsorted pit" of costumes to be organized later. It's a really broad topic, so right now, anything goes! Thanks for the contributions!
baldric, bliaut, coif, cote-hardie, farthingale, houppelande, partlet, tabard, kirtle, wimple, buskin, greatcoat and 33 more...
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♥
ambrosia, inamorata, gossamer, lily-white, hummingbird, roucoulement, poppy, daisy, calypso, lunula, lamb, dove and 1526 more...
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wingblossom's Words
flicker, wrinkle, solipsism, tea, aurora, lilt, burnt, crescent, gale, pocket, ephemeral, candied and 136 more...
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Invisible Man
Words culled from Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison.
sweetback, inspirit, plasticine, atoss, hyperreceptivity, laugher-at-wounds, necrophily, monopolate, aliveness, thinker-tinker, weltschmerz, klieg and 113 more...
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reginaterra's Words
purl, blow, squish, andean, generality, adaptation, lush, pack, filter, acquiesce, abstraction, sweet and 508 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (T)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
tabard, tadpole, taffeta, taffy, talisman, tallgrass, tam, tamarind, tamarack, tambourine, tango, tansy and 144 more...
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slumry's Words
cattywampus, ingratiate, lackadaisical, exactitude, exfoliate, fulminate, circumnavigation, circuitous, debride, sidle, sequester, chicory and 1002 more...
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If-Christ-Had-Not-Died-For-Thee-Thou-...
Words that have been used as baby names, including virtue names, nature names, place names, etc.
The title is an actual name given to a Puritan boy in the 17th century.faith, hope, grace, charity, chastity, prudence, patience, temperance, river, phoenix, stone, violet and 455 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for taffeta.
thesaraheffect Ah! I came here just to say that--I'm a year late! Sep 26, 2009
skipvia "Taffeta, darling."
"Taffeta, sweetheart." Oct 7, 2007