Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The act or process of dressing or grooming oneself; toilet.
- n. A person's dress or style of dress.
- n. A gown or costume.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. See toilet.
Wiktionary
- n. archaic A dressing table, typically covered to the floor with cloth (originally, toile) and lace, on which stood a mirror, which might also be draped in lace.
- n. alternative spelling of toilet.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. See toilet, 3.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the act of dressing and preparing yourself
Etymologies
- Borrowing from French toilette, more at toilet. (Wiktionary)
- French; see toilet. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“He added that "her toilette is rich but bizarre, and recalls the dress of Guercini's sibyls" with their loosely fitting, shoulder-baring costumes, again reminiscent of Sappho and the Grecian-draped Emma Hamilton (qtd. in Fraser,”
Framing Romantic Dress: Mary Robinson, Princess Caroline and the Sex/Text
“Originally, a toilette was a dressing table and all its accoutrements, including a toile covering that hung to the floor.”
“Happiness is the poetry of woman, as the toilette is her tinsel.”
“An indispensable feature of the toilette is the so-called”
“Her body was modestly invested in a thin pattern of tattoo, and a gauze-work of oil and camwood; the rest of the toilette was a dwarf pigeon-tail of fan - palm, like that of the men, and a manner of apron, white beads, and tree bark, greasy and reddened: the latter was tucked under and over the five lines of cowries, which acted as cestus to the portly middle, "big as a budget.”
Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 1
“Mademoiselle Mars presides also over her toilette, which is always appropriate and becoming.”
“A simple robe of _organdie_, with long sleeves, a _canezou_ of net, a light scarf, and a pretty _chapeau_ of _paille de riz_, form this becoming toilette, which is considered a suitable one for all theatres, except the Opera, where ladies go in a richer dress.”
“With a shrill little laugh, the lady kissed her dear friend affectionately -- and if the caress was not returned with very great fervour, it may be presumed that this coldness was due more to the unlovely impression created by the night 'toilette' of the Ever -”
“But what puzzles me is to think how he could possibly know you were going to make any special 'toilette' this evening.”
“American quickly reflected that the somewhat elaborate "toilette" was unusual, and connected it with the expected visitor.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘toilette’.
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Mobying Along
looks like there's not an open Moby Dick list. So now there is.
hypos, Manhattoes, circumambulate, mole, grapnels, bowsprit, asphaltic, mazy, tranced, cataract, ungraspable, judgmatically and 227 more...
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Words from Moby Dick
frigate, presumptuous, genteel, succor, hearthstone, gentry, factitious, bilious, insurgent, portent, enervate, genuflect and 303 more...
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French words in German language
words and phrases with french background commonly used in the german language, so-called "Gallizismen"
trottoir, paravent, rayon, perron, fauteuil, garage, arrangement, etablissement, portemonnaie, parterre, coupé, voliere and 123 more...
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Wuthering Heights
From Emily Bronte's book, here are some words that were used. I should learn them...
appellation, perusing, transgressions, minx, toilette, soliloquized, lattice, wrenched, spectre, caprice, brindled, querulous and 40 more...
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Pride and Prejudice
Words taken from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen.
mien, pliancy, ductility, majoralty, denominate, vingt-un, twelvemonth, ragout, blowsy, loo, piquet, precipitance and 50 more...
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mgoormastic's list
Interesting words used in The Three Musketeers by Dumas.
baldric, auberge, mercer, calotte, apologue, parblue, ma foi, mordieu, ventrebleu, capon, diffident, ingenuous and 58 more...
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In which the reader is introduced to ...
Wonderful words I (re)discovered while reading William Makepeace Thackeray's Vanity Fair, and would not likely discover elsewhere, especially not outside 19th Century British fiction. You'll probab...
reprobated, sagaciously, fagging, laic, discomfiture, stalwart, potentate, venerable, urchin, tattoo, gimcrack, remonstrance and 33 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for toilette.
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