chiffon
/ʃɪˈfɑn/ noun
Forms chiffons
- noun A lightweight, balanced plain-woven sheer fabric, or gauze, like gossamer, woven of alternate S- and Z-twist crepe (high-twist) yarns made of silk, polyester, or cotton. “Her dresses are made from these marvelous chiffons.”
- noun Any purely ornamental accessory on a woman's dress, such as a bunch of ribbon, lace, etc.
Etymology
Borrowed from French chiffon, from Middle French chiffe (“cloth, old rag”), from Old French chipe (“rag”), from Middle English chip, chippe (“chip, shard, fragment”), from Old English ċipp (“chip, splinter, shaving”); see chip.
Webster’s 1913
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “chiffon”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details