Leghorn
(lɛˈgɔːn, ˈlɛghɔːn)
[Use of the place-name Leghorn, ad. It. Legorno (16–17th c.), now replaced by Livorno, repr. the classical L. name Liburnus.]
1. The name of a straw plaiting for hats and bonnets, made from a particular kind of wheat, cut green and bleached, and so called because imported from Leghorn in Tuscany; a hat or bonnet made of this plaiting or some imitation of it. (Used both simply and in attrib. use, as Leghorn bonnet, Leghorn chip, Leghorn hat, Leghorn plait.)
| 1740 Pennsylvania Gaz. 22 May 7/2 Leghorn hats. 1742 Boston News-Let. 24 June 2/2 Just imported..from London..Leghorn Hats for women. 1804 European Mag. XLV. 412/2 Hats of a foreign manufacture, imported from Italy, and therefore denominated Leghorn Chip. 1805 Trans. Soc. Arts XXIII. 223 The Gold Medal of the Society was this session voted to Mr. William Corston, of Ludgate-Hill, for a substitute, of his invention, for Leghorn Plait, for Hats, &c. Ibid. 231 A specimen of plaited straw, manufactured..in this country, similar to that imported from various parts of Europe, under the denomination of Leghorn. 1818 Lady Morgan Autobiog. (1859) 64, I bought myself a chapeau de soleil, with corn flowers stuck in the side of it—a regular Leghorn. 1823 Spirit Publ. Jrnls. (1825) I. 6 She..split the young lady's Leghorn by one thump of her fist. 1893 Peel Spen Valley 271 The great leghorn bonnets which they prized so highly. 1969 Gish & Pinchot L. Gish iii. 33 Dorothy and I were cool in our full-skirted summer frocks and wide-brimmed leghorn hats. 1975 R. Player Let's talk of Graves ii. 46 Her big grey saucer eyes, shaded by the big Leghorn hat. |
2. The name of a breed of the domestic fowl.
| 1869 Rep. U.S. Commissioner Agric. 485, 15 hens, mostly Leghorns and Black Hamburgs. Ibid., Mixture of Leghorn and native breed. 1874 L. Wright Illustr. Bk. Poultry 423 While most Spanish breeds are delicate, the Leghorns are extraordinarily hardy, besides being much superior as layers. Ibid. 425 The white Leghorn cock. |