mandilion Obs. exc. Hist.
(mænˈdɪlɪən)
Also 6 mandilyon, maundilion, 6–7 mandilian, -illian, 7 -ellion, -ylian, (? madilion).
[a. F. mandillon (16th c.), ad. It. mandiglione, augmentative f. mandiglia: see mandill.]
A loose coat or cassock, in later times sleeveless, formerly worn by soldiers and men-servants as a kind of overcoat.
| 1577 Dee Relat. Spir. i. (1659) 154 The men have things on their shoulders of beasts' skins, as instead of a Jerkin or a Mandillion. 1587 Fleming Contn. Holinshed III. 1287/2 Their vniuersall liuerie was a mandilion of purple taffata, laid about with siluer lase. 1599 Dallam Trav. (Hakl. Soc.) 74 Their coats were like a soldier's mandilyon. 1610 Holland Camden's Brit. (1637) 249 He had a mandilian or cassocke, garnished with the bishops armes. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 230 In time of warre they [the Knights of Malta] weare crimson mandilions..over their armour. 1688 R. Holme Armoury iii. 18/2 He beareth Or, a Mandilion Azure. 1696, 1706 Phillips. 1860 [see mantevil]. 1895 J. Brown Pilgrim Fathers x. 280 Hooks and eyes for ‘mandilions’, these being garments large and full of folds, with which soldiers wrapped themselves against the cold. |