tusser, tussore
(ˈtʌsə(r)), (ˈtʌsɔə(r))
Also 7 tussre, tessar, tessur, 9 tasar, tassar, tussar, tussur; 8–9 tusseh, tussah, tusha.
[ad. Hindī (and Urdū) tasar (ˈtʌsʌr):—Skr. tasara (also trasara) shuttle, ‘perhaps from the form of the cocoon’ (Yule & Burnell).
Of the various spellings of this word the type tussar, -er, -ur represents most exactly the Hindī original. The forms tussah, -eh, though frequently employed in works dealing specially with India, are erroneous and due to some misunderstanding. The prevailing form in ordinary use is now tussore (prob. after Indian place-names such as Mysore), to which the incorrect pronunciation (təˈsɔə(r)) is frequently given.]
1. A coarse brown silk (furnished by Antheræa mylitta and other species of silkworm) made in and imported from India. Also ellipt. a dress made of this.
| α 1619 in Foster Eng. Factories Ind. (1906) 112 A kind of Bengala stuff of silke..called tessar. 1620 Ibid. 198 Quilts of ‘Sutgonge’..lined..partly with taffeta and partly with ‘tessur’. 1620 (Oct. 6) Factory Rec., Patna I. (India Office MS. Rec.), Wee have finished our provisiones for this yeare..12 courge of Tussres. 1810 in Milburn Oriental Comm. (1825) 263 Duty on..Tusha, 5 annas per seer of 80 Sic. wt. 1827 D. Johnson Ind. Field Sports 165 A coarse kind of silk known by the name of tussar, is produced there in large quantities. 1845 Stocqueler Handbk. Brit. India (1854) 196 A lighter silk, termed tusser, much used..for room-punkahs,..gentlemen's blouses and ladies' morning-dresses. 1873 Blochmann tr. Aīn-i-Akbarī I. 94 (Y.) Tassar, per piece..1/3 to 2 Rupees. 1876 Cobb Silk in Brit. Manuf. Industr. V. 171 The silks now generally recognized as tussahs,..are a description of wild silk [etc.]. 1884 Health Exhib. Catal. p. xliii, Illustrations of silk culture, especially tussur. |
| β 1876 Besant & Rice Gold. Butterfly III. 132 You think it is silk,..and I believe they call it Indian tussore. 1884 G. Allen Philistia I. 58 A perfect fright in my shabby old Indian tussore. 1893 F. F. Moore I Forbid Banns (1899) 120 Wearing a costume that..must have cost fifty guineas, while my daughters..are compelled to put up with the plainest of Tussores! |
b. More fully
tusser or tussore silk.
| α 1796 M. Atkinson in Trans. Linn. Soc. (1804) VII. 41 A specimen of Bughy Tusseh silk. 1838 M. Martin East India II. i. iv. 157 The chief use to which the tree..is..applied is to rear the Tasar silk. 1867 Pitt-Rivers Evol. Culture, Prim. Warfare i. (1906) 62 note, The Saturnia mylitta is the caterpillar from which the Tusseh-silk is obtained. 1884 Health Exhib. Catal. 148/2 Tussah Silk, Corah Silk, Chuddahs. |
| β 1882 Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework 504 Tussore silks..are of Indian manufacture. 1896 Daily News 26 May 6/4 The wild silks of India, known in commerce as ‘Tussore silk’, of which ladies' dresses and various articles are made. |
2. A silkworm which yields tusser silk:
= tusser-worm (see 3).
| 1796 M. Atkinson in Trans. Linn. Soc. (1804) VII. 41 There are none of the Palma Christi species of Tusseh to be had here. |
3. attrib. and
Comb., as
tusser cloth,
tusser dress,
tusser parasol,
tusser stuff;
tusser-coloured adj.;
tusser-moth, any moth of which the larva (
tusser-worm) yields tusser, as the Indian
Antheræa mylitta and the Chinese
A. pernyi;
tusser-(silk)worm, any silkworm yielding tusser; the larva of a tussermoth.
| 1908 New Reformer I. 414 The varieties are that of the well-known Tassar..woven into the common *Tassar cloth, so highly esteemed all over the world for light clothing. |
| 1802 Roxburgh in Trans. Linn. Soc. (1804) VII. 34 A most durable, coarse, dark-coloured silk, commonly called Tusseh-silk, which is woven into a kind of cloth called *Tusseh doot'hies [dhoti]. |
| 1834 T. Brown Bk. Butterfl. & Moths (ed. 2) I. Pref., That splendid insect, the *Tusseh Moth of Bengal. |
| 1876 Sat. Rev. 14 Oct. 468/1 The work of the *Tussur silk-weavers. |
| 1796 M. Atkinson in Trans. Linn. Soc. (1804) VII. 41 There is another variation of the *Tusseh silk-worm in the hills near Bauglipore. 1837 Helfer in Jrnl. Asiatic Soc. Bengal VI. 42 The Tusseh Silkworm..is the most common in use of the native silkworms. |
| 1620 in Foster Eng. Factories India (1906) 197 *Tusser stufes of Bengala, of halfe silke, halfe cotten. |
| 1813 W. Milburn Oriental Comm. (1825) 303 There are two other kinds of worms which produce silk in Bengal, viz. the *Tusseh and Arrindy worms. 1878 T. Wardle Monogr. on Tusser & other Silks India 3 Silk produced by the Tasar, Tusser or Tussore worm. |
| 1890 ‘R. Boldrewood’ Col. Reformer (1891) 336 Augusta's dust-coloured *tusser wrap. |
| 1887 Daily News 20 July 6/1 A *tussore-coloured lace dress. |
| 1896 ‘H. S. Merriman’ Flotsam iv. 46 Cool brown *tussore dresses, embroidered in white. |
| 1881 M. E. Braddon Asph. I. 54 Under her big *tussore parasol. |