burlap

Meanings

Noun

• A very strong, coarse cloth, made from jute, flax or hemp, and used to make sacks, etc.

Verb

• To wrap or cover in burlap.

Origin

• Origin uncertain. Attested since about 1695 in the spelling borelap. Likely from burel + lap, where the first element is from Middle English burel. Others feel that "its character and time of appearance makes a Dutch origin very likely" (and the earliest references as to its importation from the Netherlands); the NED suggests derivation from Dutch boenlap ("coarse, rubbing linen or cloth") with the first element perhaps confused with boer; Bense instead suggests derivation from an unattested Dutch *boerenlap, where *boeren supposedly has an extended sense of "coarse" as in Dutch boerenkost ("coarse, heavy food as is eaten by farmers") and boerengoed (from Dutch boer ("farmer, peasant"); compare English boor), though this word is not attested.