chemise
(ʃɪˈmiːz)
Forms: α. 1 cemes, 4 kemes, kemse; β. 2, 6, 8–9 chemise.
[Two types of this word appear in Eng., both ultimately derived from late L.: (1) OE. cęmes (? fem.), early ME. kemes, kemse:—prehistoric OE. type *camisja-, from the late L. word; (2) chemise, a. O. and mod.F. chemise (ONF. camise, quemise, kemise, Pr. and Sp. camisa, Pg. camiza, It. camiscia, camicia):—late L. camisia, camīsa shirt, surplice (see Du Cange).
L. camisia appears first in Jerome c 400 (Ep. Vest. Mul. 64 n. 11 ‘volo pro legentis facilitate abuti sermone vulgato; solent militantes habere lineas, quas camisias vocant’). It is also in Salic Law (lviii. 4 camisia, and camisa), Isidore (xix. xxi. 1, xxii. 29 ‘Camisias (v.r. camisas) vocari, quod in his dormimus in camis, id est stratis nostris’). Beside it is found the deriv. camisīle, -is, campsīle, OF. cainsil, chainsil fine linen, alb, etc. (see chaisel); also an uncertainly related camix, It. camice, OF. cainse, chainse, ‘alb’.
The ulterior history and origin of camisia are uncertain. German etymologists incline to consider it adopted from Teutonic, and related to OE. ham shirt, and Ger. hemd, OHG. hemidi, Gothic type *hamiþi, f. root ham to cover, clothe. Kluge supposes a derivative *hamisjâ-, which, if it existed, might perh. give a Romanic camisia, as German h gave c in OFrench, through Frankish ch. But besides other difficulties, no traces of the required word are actually found in any Teutonic lang., the nearest thing being ON. hams masc. (:—hamiso-z) snake's slough. The Irish caimmse, Cornish cams, Bret. kamps an alb, and MCorn. camse an article of female clothing, are all adopted from L. or French.]
1. A garment: the name has been variously applied at different times; perh. originally (as still in French and other Romanic languages) the under-garment, usually of linen, both of men and women, a shirt; but now restricted to that worn by females, formerly called ‘smock’ and ‘shift’. † Formerly also applied to some under garment distinct from the ‘smock’, as well as to a priest's alb or surplice (so med.L. camisa), the robe of a herald, etc. In recent use: a dress hanging straight from the shoulders. Also chemise dress.
| α c 1050 Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 362 Camisa, ham, cemes. c 1325 Metr. Hom. 124 His moder dremid..Al the mikel water of Temis Rin in the bosem of hir kemes. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 122 In þe snowe for syght scho [Matilda] ȝede out in hir smok, Ouere þe water of Temse, þat frosen was iys, Withouten kirtelle or kemse, saue kouerchef all bare vis. |
| β c 1200 Trin. Coll. Hom. 163 Hire chemise smal and hwit..and hire smoc hwit. 1562 Leigh Armorie (1597) 133 b, The Herehaught..in a chemise blanke, powdred and spotted with mullets sable. 1788 E. Sheridan Jrnl. 22 Dec. (1960) 138 Gowns all kinds—Chemises—Round gowns with flounce or not. 1789 Bath Jrnl. 29 June, A chemise of very clean gauze, put over a dress of rose taffety. 1808 R. Porter Trav. Sk. Russ. & Swed. (1813) II. xl. 167 A standard made of a shift that belonged to one of the ancient queens..She would hardly make a present of so rough a chemise to her lover Broderson. 1835 Ure Philos. Manuf. 392 Each [girl] is provided with fine flannel chemises by the proprietors. a 1845 Barham Ingol. Leg., Witches' Frolic, He or She seizes what He or She pleases, Trunk-hosen or kirtles, and shirts or chemises. 1850 L. Hunt Autobiog. III. xxiv. 218 That harmless expression [shift]..has been set aside in favour of the French word ‘chemise’. 1922 Ladies' Home Jrnl. Feb. 77 Making the Popular Chemise Dress. 1958 Punch 17 Sept. 384/1 The summer chemise was the prettiest, most impudent, provocative fashion that we have seen for many a day. |
¶ Vulgarly corrupted to shimmy: chemise being mistaken for a plural; cf. chay, shay.
2. In various senses from mod.Fr. † a. Mil. fire chemise (F. chemise à feu): (see quot.). Obs.
| 1751 Chambers Cycl. s.v., Fire chemise is a piece of linen cloth, steeped in a composition of..combustible matters; used at sea, to set fire to an enemy's vessel. |
b. in Fortification. (See quots.)
| 1704 J. Harris Lex. Techn., Chemise, in Fortification, is a Wall with which a Bastion, or any other Bulwark of Earth is lined for its greater Support and Strength; or it is the Solidity of the Wall from the Talus to the Stone row. 1853 Stocqueler Mil. Encycl. 57 Chemise, in mediæval fortification, an additional escarp or counter-guard wall, covering the lower part of the escarp. |
‖ c. The lower part of a furnace.
| 1800 tr. Lagrange's Chem. II. 34 The anterior part of the furnace..in French la Chemise..A stone, called the Zinc-plate, placed at the bottom of the chemise in the furnace. |
d. The iron lining or core on which a gun barrel is welded.
| 1881 Greener Gun 231 All the better quality Damascus barrels are welded upon a ‘chemise’, or plain iron lining, which is bored out after the barrels are welded. |
e. A loose covering for a book.
| 1893 Quaritch Catal. No. 138 1 In wooden boards..wrapped in a modern morocco chemise. 1928 E. G. Millar Eng. Illum. MSS. i. 3 It still retains its binding of this period with a sheepskin ‘chemise’. 1960 Glaister Gloss. of Book 65/2 Chemise, a cover of silk or chevrotain sometimes used in the 15th century as a protection for embellished leather-bound books. |