This week's theme
Words having origins in Iraq

This week's words
baldachin
tabby
babylon
muslin
babel

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A.Word.A.Day

PRONUNCIATION:

(MUHZ-lin)

MEANING:

noun: A plain-woven cotton fabric made in various degrees of fineness.

ETYMOLOGY:

From French mousseline, from Italian mussolina, from Mussolo (Mosul, Iraq) which was known for this fabric. Earliest documented use: 1609.

NOTES:

Earlier sheer muslin was used for women's dresses and as a result, the word muslin was used collectively for women. Today muslin is mostly used for curtains, sheets, tablecloths, etc.

USAGE:

"What goes on in Brussels is glimpsed through a veil of muslin. Late night wheeler-dealing is not always recorded."
Stephen Glover; Let's Send More Reporters to Brussels; The Independent (London, UK); Nov 2, 2009.

A THOUGHT FOR TODAY: