flannel
pronunciation
How to pronounce flannel in British English:
UK [ˈflænl]
How to pronounce flannel in American English:
US [ˈflænəl]
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- Noun:
- a soft light woolen fabric; used for clothing
- bath linen consisting of a piece of cloth used to wash the face and body
- (usually in the plural) trousers
Word Origin
- flannel
- flannel: [14] Flannel is probably one of the few Welsh contributions to the English language. It appears to be an alteration of Middle English flanen ‘sackcloth’, which was borrowed from Welsh gwlanen ‘woollen cloth’, a derivative of gwlān ‘wool’. This in turn is related to Latin lāna ‘wool’ and English wool. It is not clear where the British colloquial sense ‘insincere talk’ (which seems to date from the 1920s) comes from, although it may well have been inspired by Shakespeare’s unflattering application of the word to a Welshman in the Merry Wives of Windsor 1598: ‘I am not able to answer the Welsh flannel’, says Falstaff of Hugh Evans, a Welsh parson.=> wool
- flannel (n.)
- "warm, loosely woven woolen stuff," c. 1300, flaunneol, probably related to Middle English flanen "sackcloth" (c. 1400); by Skeat and others traced to Welsh gwlanen "woolen cloth," from gwlan "wool," from Celtic *wlana, from PIE *wele- (1) "wool" (see wool). "As flannel was already in the 16th c. a well-known production of Wales, a Welsh origin for the word seems antecedently likely" [OED]. The Welsh origin is not a universally accepted etymology, due to the sound changes involved; Barnhart, Gamillscheg, Diez suggest the English word is from an Anglo-French diminutive of Old French flaine "a kind of coarse wool." Modern French flanelle is a 17c. borrowing from English.
Example
- 1. He was skinny and wore a flannel shirt .
- 2. This style in a jacket goes well with grey flannel trousers and a dark-colored shirt .
- 3. I browsed through neutral blazers at reiss and cashmere knits and flannel plaid shirts at uniqlo .
- 4. Clad in my sloppy flannel pyjamas and fleece dressing gown , I 'm looking again at the ubs booklet and thinking how crisp those lovely shirts look and marvelling at the wisdom of the advice .
- 5. But this time these items are arriving in softer fabrics such as chiffon rather than flannel and in softer colors , making them potentially safe for the workplace .