Muslin

Pronunciation

Origin

From French mousseline, from Italian mussolina, from Mussolo ("Mosul"), that is Mosul in northern Iraq (compare 1875 Knight, Edward H., Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary, V2 p1502: "Muslins are so called from Moussol in India.")

Full definition of muslin

Noun

1. (textile) Any of several varieties of thin cotton cloth.
• 1875 Knight, Edward H., Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary, V2 p1502:A bleached or unbleached thin white cotton cloth, unprinted and undyed. varieties are thereafter listed.
2. (US) Fabric made of cotton, flax (linen), hemp, or silk, finely or coarsely woven.
• 1875 Knight, Edward H., Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary, V2 pp1502-1503:Other very different styles of fabric are now indifferently called muslins, and the term is used differently on the respective sides of the Atlantic.
3. A term used for a wide variety of tightly-woven thin fabrics, especially those used for bedlinen. Its use for cotton is modern; the word linen in bedlinens sic is the clue.

1. A dressmaker's pattern made from inexpensive cloth for fitting.