damask

▪ I. damask, n. and a.
    (ˈdæməsk)
    Forms: 4–7 damaske, -asc, 4– damask; also 5 dameske, 5–6 dammask(e, 7 damasque, -ast; Sc. 5–6 dammas, -es, -ys, 6 domas, 7 damas, -es.
    [Prob. originally a. AngloFr. *Damasc = It. Damasco, L. Damascus proper name of the city; Littré and Hatzfeld have an OF. Damas of 14th c., whence the Sc. forms above. The French text of Mandeville (Roxb. Club) ch. xiv. has Damasce.]
    I. † 1. The city of Damascus. Obs.

c 1250 Gen. & Ex. 761 At damaske is ðe ðridde stede, Quer abram is bigging dede. 1377 Langl. P. Pl. B. xv. 486 So many prelates..Of Nazareth, of Nynyue, of Neptalim, and damaske. c 1485 Digby Myst. (1882) ii. 32 Thorow all dammask and liba. 1539 Inventories 49 (Jam.) Tapestryis.—Item, vi pece of the cietie of Dammys.

    2. attrib. = Made at or brought from Damascus, as damask blade, damask sword, etc. (see 7 below); damask cloth, damask silk (see 3 and 6 below); also the following:
    † damask plum, prune = damson. Obs.

1543 Traheron Vigo's Chirurg. 268 b/1 (Stanford) Take of reysons..of damaske prunes. 1616 Surfl. & Markh. Country Farme 393 Damaske Plums..are of three sorts, the black, red, and violet colour. 1664 Evelyn Kal. Hort. (1729) 210 Plums..Damasc, Denny Damasc.

    † damask powder, ? a toilet-powder scented with damask roses. Obs.

c 1540 [cf. Damask rose below]. 1634 Althorp MS. in Simpkinson Washingtons lxviii, For 4 li of damaske powder for Gooddy Webb. 1637 Heywood Royall King iv. Wks. 1874 VI. 70 Now farewell Gun-powder, I must change thee into Damask-powder.

    damask rose, a species or variety of rose, supposed to have been originally brought from Damascus.
    Apparently, originally the Rosa gallica var. damascena, a tall shrub with semi-double pink or light-red (rarely white) flowers, cultivated in the East for attar of roses; but this underwent many changes under cultivation in the West, and the name has been very variously applied by English authors. According to Miller (1768) the monthly rose, striped monthly, and York-and-Lancaster, were supposed to be varieties of the Damask rose. According to Flückiger and Hanbury, Pharmacographia, the name is now applied at Mitcham to a variety of R. gallica with very deep-coloured flowers.

c 1540 Recipe in Vicary's Anat. (1886) App. 224 Putt therto half an vnce of fyne pouldre of redde dammaske rosys. 1578 Lyte Dodoens vi. i. 655 We cal them in English, Roses of Prouince, and Damaske Roses. Ibid. 654 The flowers..be neither redde nor white, but of a mixt colour betwixt red and white, almost carnation colour. 1582 Hakluyt Memoranda in Voy. II. i. 165 The Damaske rose [brought in] by Doctour Linaker, King Henry the seuenth and King Henry the eights Physician. 1646 J. Hall Poems 45 Damast-roses yet unblown. 1744 C. Thompson's Trav. III. 13 Rose-Water made of the Damask Roses which grow here plentifully. 1869 Hole Bk. about Roses xi, The Damask [rose] with its few rich velvety-crimson petals, is a memory, and that is all.

    damask violet = dame's-violet. (In Ger. Damastblume.)

1578 Lyte tr. Dodoens 153 In English Damaske violets, Dames violets or Gillofers. 1597 Gerarde Herball ii. cxvi. 377 Dames Violets is called..in English Damaske Violets [etc.]. 1861 Pratt Flower. Plants I. 154.

    † damask water, rose-water distilled from Damask roses. Obs.

[1306 N. de Tingewick in Archæol. Jrnl. XIV. 271 Item pro aqua rosata de Damasco.] 1519 Four Elements in Hazl. Dodsley I. 44 With damask water made so well, That all the house thereof shall smell, As it were paradise. 1555 Eden Decades 224 The Capitayne sprinkeled the Kynges with damaske water. 1611 Cotgr. s.v. Damas, Eau de Damas, Damaske, or sweet, water (distilled from all sorts of odoriferous hearbs).

    II. As a name of substances originally produced at Damascus.
    3. A rich silk fabric woven with elaborate designs and figures, often of a variety of colours.
    Also applied to figured materials of silk and wool, silk and cotton, or worsted or cotton only, used for furniture-covering, curtains, etc. ‘True damasks are wholly of silk, but the term is now applied to any fabric of wool, linen, or cotton, woven in the manner of the first damasks’ (Beck, Draper's Dict.).

c 1430 Lydg. Storie of Thebes iii. vi, Clothes of veluet, Damaske and of golde. 1473 Paston Lett. No. 725 III. 91 A newe vestment off whyght damaske ffor a dekyne. 1532–3 Act. 24 Hen. VIII, c. 13 No man, vnder the saide estates..shall..weare any saten, damaske, silke, chamblet, or taffata. 1577 tr. Bullinger's Decades ii. x. 239 A linnen or wollen garment doeth as well couer and become the bodie, as damaskes and veluets. 1689 Lond. Gaz. No. 2425/4, 3 Pieces of Crimson Missena Damasks, of a large Flower, commonly used for Beds, and Hangings of Rooms. c 1710 C. Fiennes Diary (1888) 290 All ye bed and hangings are of fine damaske made of worsted. 1725 De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 21 A quantity of China damasks, and other wrought silks. 1842 J. Bischoff Woollen Manuf. II. 415 The draw-loom..is now used to a very considerable extent in weaving carpets and figured damasks.

    b. A twilled linen fabric richly figured in the weaving with designs which show up by opposite reflexions of light from the surface; used chiefly for table-linen.

1542 in Rogers Agric. & Prices III. 487/3 Damask diaper 1 yd...2/2. 1624 Will in Ripon Ch. Acts 364 One suite of damaske..for his table. 1696 J. F. Merchants' Ware-ho. 13 Damask..is a very fine sort of..Linnen, and is wrought into several sorts of fine Imagery, and Figures..it is for few uses except for Table-Linnen. 1759 Goldsm. Bee No. 3 He looked at the tablecloth, and praised the figure of the damask. 1877 Mrs. Forrester Mignon I. 23 The table is laid..damask, plate, glass, is perfect.

    4. a. Steel manufactured at Damascus; also steel or a combination of iron and steel exhibiting a similar variegated surface: more fully damask steel. b. The wavy pattern on the surface of Damascus steel, or of iron and steel welded together and corroded with weak acid.

1603 Knolles Hist. Turks (1621) 1297 Two knives of damaske, with hafts of jasper. 1844 Mech. Mag. XL. 342 All steel which exhibits a surface figured with dark lines, is called damask. 1874 Knight Dict. Mech. Damask-steel, a laminated metal of pure iron and steel, of peculiar quality, produced by careful heating, laborious forging, doubling, and twisting. 1881 Blackw. Mag. May 567 The curious product called damask-steel possesses both edge and elasticity, and all the great Eastern swords owe to it their celebrity. Ibid. 568 He made some swords which would bend till the point touched the hilt, and which would also cut through an iron bar..the same two faculties have never been conjoined in any other steel than damask.

1818 Faraday Exp. Res. xvi. (1820) 59 The damask itself is merely an exhibition of crystallisation. 1844 Mech. Mag. XL. 342 Common steel acquires no visible damask by gradual refrigeration.

    5. The colour of the damask rose: esp. as seen in the face of a woman.

1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. v. 123 There was a pretty rednesse in his lip..'twas iust the difference Betwixt the constant red and mingled Damaske. 1607 ― Cor. ii. i. 232 The Warre of White and Damaske in Their nicely gawded Cheekes. 1600 Fairfax Tasso ii. xxvi, Her damaske late, now chang'd to purest white. 1820 Keats Lamia i. 116 She..Blush'd a live damask.

    III. attrib. and adj. from senses under II. But early examples of damask cloth, blade, etc., mean literally ‘of Damascus’, and so belong to 2 above.
    6. Made of damask (silk or cloth); furnished with damask.

c 1489 Caxton Blanchardyn xix. (1890) 61 A fayre whyte coueryng of damaske clothe. 1609 B. Jonson Sil. Woman iii. i, A Damask table cloth, cost me eighteen pound. 1682 Vestry Bks. (Surtees) 340 One fair damask linen cloth and a damask napkin. 1755 Mrs. Delany Let. to Mrs. Dewes 17 Nov., Lady Anson began the last ball in a green damask sack. 1814 Hist. Univ. Oxford II. 261 The dress of the Chancellor is of black damask silk. 1842 Tennyson Audley Court 20 A damask napkin wrought with horse and hound.

    7. Made of Damascus steel; having the fine temper and watered surface of Damascus steel.

c 1611 Chapman Iliad x. 63 By him his damask curets [ἔντεα ποικίλα] hung. 1632 J. Hayward tr. Biondi's Eromena 78 The fine edge of his damaske blade. 1820 Faraday Exp. Res. xvi. (1859) 59 The wootz..retains..a damask surface when forged, polished, and acted upon by dilute acid.

    8. Of the colour of the damask rose; blush-coloured.

1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 296 Faire Ladies..Dismaskt, their damaske sweet commixture showne. 1601 ― Twel. N. ii. iv. 115 She neuer told her loue, But let concealment like a worme i' th' budde Feede on her damaske cheeke. 1842 Tennyson Day-Dream Prol., While, dreaming on your damask cheek, The dewy sister-eyelids lay. 1861 Mrs. H. Wood East Lynne xvi, Her pretty cheeks were damask with her mind's excitement.

    † 9. = damasked 3 (? a misprint).

1648 Herrick Hesper., Country Life 42 (MS. version, ed. Hazl. p. 457) The damaske [v.r. damaskt] meddowes, and the crawling streames.

    IV. 10. Comb., as damask-coated, damask-coloured, damask-gowned ppl. adjs.; damask-wise adv.; † damask branch, a figured pattern like that of damask or damask-work; so † damask-branched ppl. a.; damask carpet (see quot.); damask loom, a loom for weaving figured fabrics; damask steel (see 4); damask-stitch (see quot.); damask-work, the veining on Damascus-blades; incised ornamentation inlaid with gold or silver.

1634 Peacham Gentl. Exerc. i. xiv. 46 Diapering..(in *Damaske branches, and such like)..it chiefly serveth to counterfeit cloath of Gold, Silver, *Damaskbrancht, Velvet, Chamlet, &c., with what branch, and in what fashion you list.

1874 Knight Dict. Mech., *Damask-carpet..a variety of carpet resembling the Kidderminster in the mode of weaving, but exposing the warp instead of the weft.

1606 Dekker Sev. Sins iii. (Arb.) 25 The *damask-coated Cittizen.

a 1631 Drayton Noah's Flood, The *damask-colour'd dove..His sundry colour'd feathers.

1861 W. F. Collier Hist. Eng. Lit. 135 A magnificent array of satin and *damask-gowned priests.

1846 M{supc}Culloch Acc. Brit. Empire (1854) I. 708 The *damask loom is capable of producing any figure, however complicated.

1882 Caulfeild & Saward Dict. Needlework, *Damask Stitch. A name given to Satin Stitch when worked upon a linen foundation.

1580 Hollyband Treas. French Tong, Tailler quelque chose à la Damasquine, to cut some thing *damaske wise. 1611 Cotgr., Damasquiner..to flourish, carue, or ingraue Damaske-wise.

1598 Florio, Damaschino, *damaske worke vpon blades. 1830 Tennyson Recoll. Arab. Nts. iii, All..The sloping of the moon-lit sward Was damask-work, and deep inlay Of braided blooms unmown.

▪ II. damask, v.
    (ˈdæməsk)
    [f. prec. n. By Milton and Phineas Fletcher stressed daˈmask.]
    1. trans. To weave with richly-figured designs.

[1599, etc. see damasked 1.] 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Damask or Damasquine..to imprint the Figures of Flowers on Silk, or Stuff. 1755 Johnson, Damask, 1. to form flowers upon stuffs.

    2. = damascene v.

1585 T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. Turkie B. ii. xxi. 584 b, A fair basen of Copper damasked. 1653 H. Cogan tr. Pinto's Voy. 159 Armed with..Partisans damasked with gold and silver. 1673 Ray Journ. Low C. (1738) II. 354 They damask their cymeters with a blewish colour. 1877 W. Jones Finger-ring L. 247 The wooden sides were plated with gold, and damasked with gold wire.

    3. transf. and fig. To ornament with or as with a variegated pattern or design; to diaper.

1610 G. Fletcher Christ's Vict., There pinks eblazed wide And damaskt all the earth. 1633 P. Fletcher Purple Isl. xii. i, Where various flowers damask the fragrant seat. 1667 Milton P.L. iv. 334 As they sat recline On the soft downie Bank damaskt with flours. 1744 Shenstone Song, ‘O'er desert Plains’ 5 Tho' my path were damask'd o'er With beauties e'er so fine. 1872 O. W. Holmes Poet Breakf. T. i. (1891) 34 Fair pictures damasked on a vapor's fold.

    4. To make red or blush-coloured like a damask-rose.

1863 A. Marsh Heathside Farm I. 58 Cathie's peach-like cheek was damasked by heat and laughter.

    5. To deface or destroy, by stamping or marking with lines and figures.

1673 in Stationers' Rec. (1883), Order of Bishop of London to damask ‘The Leviathan’. 1678 Ibid., Order of Bishop of London to damask Seditious books seized at Frances Smith's, and to burn in the Company's garden adjoining their Hall the Books not fitt for damasking. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), Damask or Damasquine, to stamp rude Draughts on waste Paper, etc. 1709 Act. 8 Ann c. 21 Such offender or offenders shall forfeit such Book or Books..to the proprietor or proprietors of the Copy thereof, who shall forthwith damask and make wast Paper of them. 1845 Campbell Chancellors (1856) I. 23 The ceremony of breaking or ‘damasking’ of the old Great Seal consists in the Sovereign giving it a gentle blow with a hammer, after which it is supposed to be broken, and has lost all its virtue.

    † 6. To warm (wine): see quot. 1706. slang.

1699 B. E. Dict. Cant. Crew, Damask the Claret, Put a roasted Orange slasht smoking hot in it. 1706 Phillips (ed. Kersey), To Damask Wine, is to warm it a little, in order to take off the edge of the Cold and make it mantle. 1778 Cumberland in Goldsmith's Wks. (1881) I. 101 Wilt have it steep'd in Alpine snows, Or damask'd at Silenus' nose?

Oxford English Dictionary