muslin

Meaning

Noun

• Any of several varieties of thin cotton cloth.
• Fabric made of cotton, flax (linen), hemp, or silk, finely or coarsely woven.
• Any of a wide variety of tightly-woven thin fabrics, especially those used for bedlinen.
• Woven cotton or linen fabrics, especially when used for items other than garments.
• A dressmaker's pattern made from inexpensive cloth for fitting.
• Any of several different moths, especially the muslin moth, Diaphora mendica (species).

Origin

• From French mousseline, from Italian mussolina, from Mussolo, that is Mosul in northern Iraq (compare 1875 Knight, Edward H., Knight's American Mechanical Dictionary, V2 p1502: "Muslins are so called from Moussol in India.")