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tutu

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tu⋅tu

[too-too; Fr. ty-ty]
–noun, plural -tus [-tooz; Fr. -ty] .
a short, full skirt, usually made of several layers of tarlatan or tulle, worn by ballerinas.

Origin:
1925–30; < F

Tu⋅tu

[too-too]
–noun
Desmond (Mpi⋅lo) [uhm-pee-loh] , born 1931, South African Anglican clergyman and civil-rights activist: Nobel peace prize 1984; archbishop of Cape Town since 1986.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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tu·tu   (tōō'tōō)   
n.  A short skirt, often consisting of many layers of gathered sheer fabric, worn by ballerinas.

[French, perhaps alteration of cucu, baby-talk reduplication of cul, buttocks; see culotte.]
Tu·tu   (tōō'tōō)   
South African prelate. A leader in the antiapartheid struggle, he became a prominent advocate of international economic sanctions against South Africa. He won the 1984 Nobel Peace Prize.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

tutu 
ballet skirt, 1910, from Fr. tutu, alteration of cucu, infantile reduplication of cul "bottom, backside."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Encyclopedia

tutu

standard skirt worn by female ballet dancers, consisting of four or five layers of silk or nylon frills; the skirt is attached to a sleek-fitting bodice. (Originally tutu designated a short, trouserlike petticoat worn under a dancer's costume.) The prototype of the Romantic tutu, extending to within about 12 inches (30 cm) of the floor, was introduced in the 1830s by Marie Taglioni. The tutu gradually was shortened until, by the 1880s, the whole leg was visible. Both the Romantic and the brief tutu are worn in contemporary ballet.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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