satin
/ˈsæt.ɪn/ noun, adjective, verb
Forms satins satining satined
- noun A cloth woven from silk, nylon or polyester with a glossy surface and a dull back. (The same weaving technique applied to cotton produces cloth termed sateen).
- noun (slang, obsolete) Gin (the drink).
- adjective Semigloss. “satin paint”
- verb (transitive) To make (paper, silver, etc.) smooth and glossy like satin.
Etymology
From French satin, which is derived from "Zaitun", the Arabic name for the Chinese city of Quanzhou, itself derived from Arabic زَيْتُون (zaytūn, “Zayton; olive”), from phono-semantic matching from Chinese 刺桐 (MC tshjeH duwng, “coral tree”) in 刺桐城 (MC tshjeH duwng dzyeng, “coral tree town”), an old name for Quanzhou.
Webster’s 1913
Etymology [F. satin (cf. Pg. setim), fr. It. setino, from seta silk, L. saeta, seta, a thick, stiff hair, a bristle; or possibly ultimately of Chinese origin; cf. Chin. sz-tün, sz-twan. Cf. Sateen.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “satin”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details