farthingale

[ fahr-thing-geyl ]

noun
  1. a hoop skirt or framework for expanding a woman's skirt, worn in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Origin of farthingale

1
1545–55; earlier verdynggale<Middle French verdugale, alteration of Old Spanish verdugado, equivalent to verdug(o) tree-shoot, rod (verd(e) green (<Latin viridis) + -ugo noun suffix) + -ado-ade1; so called from rod used to extend skirt

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British Dictionary definitions for farthingale

farthingale

/ (ˈfɑːðɪŋˌɡeɪl) /


noun
  1. a hoop or framework worn under skirts, esp in the Elizabethan period, to shape and spread them

Origin of farthingale

1
C16: from French verdugale, from Old Spanish verdugado, from verdugo rod

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012