DisputedIndirect, via a person or title
gingham
noun · first attested 17th century
Two countries claim this fabric's name, and the earliest cloth backs the one without the town.
A cotton cloth woven in checks from dyed and white yarn.
Record
- Relationship
- Indirect, via a person or title
- Confidence
- DisputedCompeting explanations remain live.
- Attested
- 17th 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
Guingamp
- In English
gingham
One account derives it from Malay genggang, meaning striped or ajar, by way of Dutch traders; the other from Guingamp in Brittany, a weaving town. Most dictionaries now prefer the Malay origin, and the earliest English gingham was striped rather than checked, which fits it. The checks arrived later, from Manchester mills in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
France
All 57 entries 56 more words from France
denimThe cloth is named for Nîmes, not for jeans.NîmesbayonetThe blade is traditionally tied to a port in the Basque country.BayonnechampagneThe drink is a place-name first, a party word second.ChampagnecognacThe brandy is the town’s name in a glass.CognaccayenneThe heat is named for a capital on the Atlantic coast of South America.CayennelimousineThe luxury car is named for a cloak from Limousin.LimogesroquefortThe blue cheese is a village in the Aveyron.Roquefort-sur-SoulzoncamembertThe cheese is a Norman village.Camembert