▪ I. napkin, n.
(ˈnæpkɪn)
Also 5–6 napkyn, 5 namp-, nap(p)ekyn, 6–7 napking, 9 Sc. naipkin; 6 Sc. neap-, neipkyn, 9 neepkin.
[app. f. F. nappe nape n.2 + -kin. There appears to be no trace of the form in MDu. or Flemish.]
1. a. A square piece of linen, used at meals to wipe the fingers or lips and to protect one's garments, or to serve certain dishes on; a table-napkin, serviette.
to take sheet and napkin, to sleep and eat (with one). to stick a napkin under one's chin, to partake of a meal.
| 1420 Inventory in Lincoln Chapter Acc. Bk. A. 2. 30. f. 69, 2 nappekynnes 20d. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 351/2 Napet, or napekyn, napella. a 1483 Liber Niger in Househ. Ord. (1790) 83 All the basyns, ewears, cuppes & napkins. 1513 Bk. Keruynge in Babees Bk. (1868) 155 Laye your knyues, & set your brede,..your spones, and your napkyns fayre folden besyde your brede. 1555 W. Watreman Fardle Facions ii. x. 215 Thei [Tartars] neither vse..table clothe ne napkin. 1617 Moryson Itin. iii. 116 the Hostesse..is tied to dresse his meate and give him napkins with like necessaries. 1653 Mewe in Hartlib Common-w. Bees (1655) 42 If you please to take a sheet and napkin with me for some time, we shall discourse of this. 1760 Foote Minor i. Wks. 1799 I. 237 There is not a buck or a turtle devoured within the bills of mortality, but there I may, if I please, stick a napkin under my chin. 1792 A. Young Trav. France 277 The idea of dining without a napkin seems ridiculous to a Frenchman. 1841 Lane Arab. Nts. I. 123 Each person who is to partake of the repast receives a napkin. 1881 Besant & Rice Chapl. of Fleet I. 149 These she laid on a plate, with bread and salt, and put the whole upon a napkin. |
b. A similar piece of linen or other cloth used for other purposes; a small towel.
| 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. i. 31 They spread you out a large napkin..upon the said benches, where you sit down. 1810 Clarke Trav. Russia (1839) 102/1 They..present him with a basin, water, and a clean napkin, to wash his hands. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) III. 656 Like a napkin, always..at hand to clean the mirror. |
c. A rectangular piece of towelling or absorbent material used as a baby's undergarment by folding, drawing up between the legs, and fastening at the waist.
| 1845 Mrs. Gaskell Let. (1966) 824 Meta is so neat & so knowing, only, handles wet napkins very gingerly. 1861 Mrs. Beeton Bk. Househ. Managem. 1021 Soiled baby's napkins should be rolled up and put into a pan, when they should be washed out every morning. 1961 Brit. Med. Dict. 1212/1 The skin..is the more easily affected by the free ammonia liberated through the interaction of acid urine and badly washed napkins. 1974 Janet Frazer Catal. Spring & Summer 292/2 Fully-bleached terry napkins. Soft and absorbent... Size 24{pp} × 24{pp}..{pstlg}3·35 (dozen). |
2. a. A (pocket-)handkerchief. Now only Sc. and north. dial.
| 1530 Palsgr. 247/2 Napkyn for the nose, movchover. 1575 Laneham Let. (1871) 38 Out of hiz bozome drawne foorth a lappet of his napkin, edged with a blu lace. 1604 Shakes. Oth. iii. iii. 290, I am glad I haue found this Napkin: This was her first remembrance from the Moore. 1674 Ray N.C. Words 34 Napkin, a Pocket Hand-Kerchief, so called about Sheffield in Yorkshire. 1755 Forbes Ajax, Shop Bill 40 Napkins, as guid's in a' the land, to dight your nib. 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie xiii, A ne'er-do-weel pocket-picker whuppet the napkin out of my pouch. 1884 D. Grant Lays 87 She startit, wi' her napkin Pressed to lovely nose an 'een. |
| fig. 1648 Gage West Ind. 1 What judicious eye, that will not be blinded with the napkin of ignorance [etc.]. |
| Phr. 1570 Foxe A. & M. (ed. 2) 951/2 It maye well bee a Napkin for my Nose, but I will neuer be ashamed of it. |
b. Used to render Gr. σουδάριον (L. sūdārium).
| 1526 Tindale Luke xix. 20 Beholde here thy pounde, which I have kepte in a napkyn. ― John xi. 44 His face was bounde with a napkyn. Ibid. xx. 7. |
c. Hence in phrases to hide, lay up, wrap up, etc. in a napkin, in allusion to Luke xix. 20.
| 1598 R. C. Household Gov. Ep. Ded. 2 Or to hide my tallent in a napking. 1698 Fryer Acc. E. India & P. 112 This humour of laying up their Talent in a Napkin. 1768–74 Tucker Lt. Nat. (1834) II. 101 We had best..wrap up our bibles as well as our talent of reason in a napkin. 1856 Emerson Eng. Traits, Wealth Wks. (Bohn) II. 70 The headlong bias to utility will let no talent lie in a napkin. 1872 Morley Voltaire (1886) 7 He never counted truth a treasure to be discreetly hidden in a napkin. |
3. Sc. A kerchief or neckerchief.
| 1787 Beattie Scoticisms 60 She had a red silk napkin on her head. 1845 Still Cottar's Sunday 22 His napkin white she ties wi' cantie care. |
4. attrib. and Comb., as † napkin-cap, a small linen cap (obs.); napkin-cheese, cheese made by straining cream through a bag made of a napkin; † napkin nook, the corner of a handkerchief (obs.); napkin-ring, a ring placed on a table-napkin when rolled up; nakpin-snatching (see quot. 1823).
| 1583 Leg. Bp. St. Androis 819 Ten pundis stirling furth he tuike, And knit it in a neapkyn nucke. 1686 in Narragansett Hist. Reg. III. (1884–5) 105, 18 Napkins & 9 Napkin Rings. 1746 H. Walpole Lett. (1846) II. 154 He then took off his bag, coat, and waistcoat,..and after some trouble, put on a napkin-cap. 1823 Egan Grose's Dict. Vulg. Tongue, Napkin-snatching or Fogle-hunting. Sneaking pocket-handkerchiefs. 1839 Workwoman's Guide 275 Checked Napkin Rings. 1865 Pall Mall Gaz. 22 May 4 Pastry, preserves, and napkincheeses of their own making. 1972 Country Life 21 Dec. 1755 This woven design, using sterling silver ribbons interwoven..is very attractive. There are napkin rings (ideal for a wedding present)... The napkin ring costs {pstlg}20. |
Add: [1.] d. orig. and chiefly N. Amer. = sanitary towel s.v. sanitary a. 3.
| 1873 L. C. Warner Pop. Treat. Dis. Women x. 91 In cool weather the lower part of the body should be dressed in flannel drawers, and the napkins employed should be dried and warmed before being used. 1895 Montgomery Ward Catal. Spring & Summer 88/3 The Faultless Serviette or Absorbent Health Napkin.., no washing, burned after using. 1900 Dorland Med. Dict. 624/2 Spotting, a slight menstrual show upon a woman's napkin. 1956 Sears, Roebuck Catal. Fall & Winter 756/2 Nylon Sanitary panty... Inner napkin tabs. 1986 V. Goldberg Margaret Bourke-White xix. 221 ‘She just sent me out to get her some napkins.’ ‘Napkins?’ ‘I think you call it Kotex.’ |
▪ II. † ˈnapkin, v. Obs.
[f. prec. 2 c.]
trans. To wrap up or hide in or as in a napkin.
| 1621 Sanderson Serm. I. 191 Let every man beware of napkining up the talent, which was delivered him to trade withal. 1657 Owen Communion Father, etc. ii. x. Wks. 1851 II. 215 When others napkin their talents, as having to do with an austere master. a 1680 Charnock Attrib. God (1834) II. 695 To napkin up a gift he hath bestowed..is to apply it to a wrong use. |