negligee (n.)


So called in comparison to the elaborate costume of a fully dressed woman of the period. Grose ["Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue," 1788] reports it "vulgarly termed a neggledigee." The word was borrowed again c.1835; the modern sense "semi-transparent, flimsy, lacy dressing gown" is yet another revival, recorded from 1930. It also was used in the U.S. funeral industry mid-20c. for "shroud of a corpse."

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