antimacassar
(ˌæntɪməˈkæsə(r))
[f. anti- 6 + macassar, proprietary name of a kind of hair-oil.]
a. A covering thrown over cushions, sofas, chairs, etc. to protect them from grease in the hair, or other soiling, or merely as an ornament.
| 1852 Lady's Newsp. XI. 36 Anti-maccassar Materials..crochet cotton..or pink and drab crochet twine. 1859 All Y. Round 11 June 157 The anti-Macassar on the arm-chair. 1879 M. E. Braddon Vixen III. 281 To sit alone by the fireside, and work antimacassars in crewels. |
b. transf. Applied attrib. to that which is typical of the period (chiefly the 19th cent.) when antimacassars were in general use.
| 1913 Eng. Rev. Feb. 482 The Libraries..are largely swayed by the letters they receive, generally from old ladies (worthy, antimacassar people), who regard art with pious misgivings and..spend part of their leisure in denouncing it. 1938 Scrutiny VII. 397 Antimacassar evangelicanism and Sunday-school sanctimoniousness. |
Hence ˌantimaˈcassared [-ed2] a., covered or adorned with an antimacassar. Also transf. (see b).
| 1907 A. Bennett Grim Smile of Five Towns 56 Seated in the antimacassared arm-chair. 1914 Times 13 May 11/5 The antimacassared ease of early Victorian times may have been too much of a good thing, but that was better than the excesses of the modern athletic girl. 1920 D. H. Lawrence Lost Girl vii. 137 A horse-hair antimacassar-ed sofa. 1928 Daily Express 31 July 8/3 The antimacassared chairs, the horse-hair sofa, and the picture of Queen Victoria's jubilee. |