A coarse cloth of cotton, linen or hemp, stiffened with size or glue, used in bookbinding to cover and protect the books, in garments to keep them in the form intended, and for wrappers to cover merchandise.
From Middle English bukeram ("fine linen"), from Anglo-Norman bokeram, from Old French boquerant, bougherant, bougueran, probably ultimately from Bokhara, a city in southeastern Uzbekistan.
Perhaps from earlier buckrams, from buck + ramson. Compare Danish ramsløg ("ramson"), Swedish ramslök ("bear garlic, ramson").
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