guimpe

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun a piece of starched cloth covering the shoulders of a nun's habit
  2. noun a short blouse with sleeves that is worn under a jumper or pinafore dress

Etymology

From French guimpe, from Middle French guimpe, from Old French guimple (“wimple”), from Frankish *wimpil, *wimpila (“head scarf”), from Proto-Germanic *wimpilaz, from *wīpaną ("to wind, sling, garland, swing"; from Proto-Indo-European *wimb-, *weyb- (“to turn, rotate”)) + Proto-Germanic *-ilaz (instrumental suffix). Cognate with Old High German wimpal and winfila (“head scarf”), Middle Dutch wumpel (“cap”), Old English wimpel, winpel (“wimple”), Old Norse vimpill (“hood, veil”). Also influenced by Old French guimpre (“a kind of trimming”), from the same Germanic source. More at wimple.

In classic literature

A single word — an entire dictionary opens.

Type a word, a sentence, a book title, or a link to an English article. WordNet and the Classics answer.

Try

A library of classics · a vault of words · instant etymology & meaning

Continue reading