Well attestedNamed from the place
Cheshire cat
noun · first attested 18th century
The grin was proverbial in England decades before Lewis Carroll borrowed it.
A creature wearing a broad, fixed grin; used of anyone who smiles far too widely.
53.1667°N -2.5833°W · Q23064
Record
- Relationship
- Named from the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 18th century
- Part of speech
- noun
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
Cheshire
- In English
Cheshire cat
Grinning like a Cheshire cat was already a stock English simile by the 1780s, long before Alice met the vanishing one in 1865. Why Cheshire is unsettled: the candidates include cheeses molded in the shape of a smiling cat and badly painted heraldic lions on county inn signs.
United Kingdom
All 108 entries 107 more words from United Kingdom
badmintonThe sport is named for an English country house.BadmintoncheddarThe cheese is named for a gorge village, not a brand.CheddarsandwichThe meal is named for an earl. The earl is named for a town in Kent.SandwichpaisleyThe pattern is from Kashmir. The English name is a Scottish mill town.PaisleybedlamChaos is a worn-down pronunciation of Bethlehem.Bethlem HospitalrugbyThe game is named for the school that played it.RugbytweedThe cloth may be a river, or a misread word for twill.River TweedascotThe tie is named for a Berkshire racecourse.Ascot