corset
(ˈkɔːsɪt)
Forms: 4–9 corsette, 5 corsete, coursette, 9 corsett, 5– corset.
[a. F. corset (13th c. in Littré), dim. of OF. cors body.]
1. A close-fitting body-garment; esp. a laced bodice worn as an outside garment by women in the middle ages and still in many countries; also a similar garment formerly worn by men.
| 1299 Wardrobe Acct. 28 Edw. I, 28/15, 2 corsett' de miniver. 1387 Trevisa Higden (Rolls) II. 361 He dede on a corsette of Janyr. 1483 Caxton G. de la Tour B viij, This gyse..of these grete pourfyls and of the coursettys torned by the sydes. c 1530 Ld. Berners Arth. Lyt. Bryt. (1814) 336 Her senesshal..mounted on a gret courser, and in a rich corset of grene, gyrt w{supt} a white silken lace. 1805 Ht. & S. Lee Canterb. T. V. 228 She wore a corset, the short waist and petticoats of her country. 1811 Scott Don Roderick xxxiii, He conscious of his broidered cap and band, She of her netted locks and light corsette. |
2. A closely-fitting inner bodice stiffened with whalebone or the like, and fastened by lacing; worn chiefly by women to give shape and support to the figure; stays. Esp. in pl. Also fig. (usu. in sing.).
| 1795 Times 24 June, Corsettes about six inches long, and a slight buffon tucker of two inches high, are now the only defensive paraphernalia of our fashionable Belles. 1796 Specif. W. Booth's Patent No. 2112 An improvement in the making of stays and corsettes. a 1847 Mrs. Sherwood Lady of Manor V. xxxi. 235 Her morning-dress, which..she always wore without her corset. 1871 B. Taylor Faust (1875) I. iv. 81 To see If tightly laced the corsets be. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 523 Vicelike corsets of soft dove coutille. Ibid. 533 Corsets for men. 1930 W. S. Maugham Cakes & Ale xvi. 190 When I put my hands on her sides I could feel the ribbing of the skin from the pressure of the corsets. Ibid. 191 She did not put on her corsets again, but rolled them up and I wrapped them in a piece of newspaper. 1951 in M. McLuhan Mech. Bride 93/2 Bergson has put a corset around the Absolute. 1968 Listener 25 July 102/1 Under the title of democratic centralism it imprisons the state in a bureaucratic corset designed to restrict development to predetermined fields. 1970 Sunday Times (Colour Suppl.) 11 Oct. 23/2 They buy a tin corset for their shapeless souls: they buy ‘the car with authority’. |
† 3. = corslet 1. Obs.
| c 1489 Caxton Sonnes of Aymon iii. 79 Ye sholde haue seen..corsettes and flancardes all to brosten. |
4. attrib.
| 1837 Whittock Bk. Trades (1842) 165 (heading) Corset⁓maker. Ibid 166 Females are more employed in stay and corset making than males. 1843 Ainsworth's Mag. III. 51, I cannot see that this corset-fitter..was a lady. 1845 M. M. Noah Gleanings 116 [The young lady] drew out a piece of long black iron or steel... It is my corset bone, whispered she. 1877 J. A. Ruth Decorum 285 These latter..consist of a waist cut like a plain corset⁓cover. 1882 Dict. Needlework s.v., Corset Cord..is made both of linen and of cotton. 1922 Joyce Ulysses 492 A tag of her corset lace hangs slightly below her jacket. 1962 K. A. Porter Ship of Fools i. 51 She wears a white linen corset cover with tatting around the edges. |
______________________________
Add: [2.] b. A close-fitting support worn because of injury, weakness, or deformity, esp. of the thorax or spine.
| 1833 Dunglison Dict. Med. Sci. 243/2 Corset,... Different bandages, more or less complicated, which embrace the greater part of the trunk, are like wise so called. 1884 Catal. Orthopaedical Apparatuses (John Reynolds & Co.) 306 (heading) Sayre's Spinal Spring Corset. Ibid., The corset is constantly making efforts to extend itself. 1907 A. Thorndike Orthopedic Surg. xx. 341 Corsets made of cloth re-inforced with steels..have been used extensively. 1939 H. H. Jordan Orthopedic Appliances v. 253 The illustrations..show a leather-strip anklet..combined with a metatarsal corset. 1951 F. J. & L. S. Knocke Orthopaedic Nursing vii. 155 A corset is a semirigid support, made of stout cloth reinforced with longitudinal supports. 1985 J. N. Walton Brain's Dis. Nervous Syst. (ed. 9) xviii. 518 A light lumbar support or corset which is worn for three months or longer. |