silk, n. and a. Forms:. 1 sioloc, seoloc, seoluc, seolc, 3 seolk (solk), 4 seolke; 3 selc, 4_5 selk(e. _. 4 silc, 4_ silk (6 silck), 4_7 silke; 4_5 sylk(e, 5 cylk(e, 6 sylcke.
[OE. sioloc, seoloc, etc. (for earlier *siluc) masc., varying in form and gender from ON. and Icel. silki neut. (Norw., Sw., and Da. silke); not found in the other Germanic languages, but represented also by OSlav. shelku (Russ. shelk').
The ultimate source is commonly supposed to be L. sericus or Gr. σιρηκός silken, f. L. Seres, Gr.
Σήρες, the oriental people (perhaps the Chinese) from whom silk was first obtained. The change of r to l may have taken place in some language through which the word passed into Slavonic use and thence into the early Baltic trade.]
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Oxford English Dictionary samite.
Searchable Lemmata: samit (AF), hexamitum (L), hexamitus (L), samitus (L), samite (ME), samit (W), samit (OScots), samite (MdE).
Alternate Forms: samith, samitte, samitto, samet, samette, samed, sanite, sayntes, samer, samictus, samita, sametus, samitellus, samitrus, examitus, examiti, examitto, examito, exameto, examitam, examitum, hexamitus, exametus, xamittus, samiteus, samitricus.
1(n.) Textile; technically, a plain silk cloth, in weft-faced compound twill. Its name derives from Greek, meaning a (twill) weave based on a unit of 6 threads, and its appearance has the diagonal lines of a twill weave and a lustrous quality produced by the long weft floats. It was made in various weights, but was usually quite heavy, and was made in various colours. It was suitable as background for embroidery in gold thread. It was made in various silk-weaving centres in the eastern Mediterranean and Italy. As a high-status textile it was often named in Romances in various European countries [Mayo, J. (1984)]; also, a cloth or garment of this textile. Use of the term is discussed by Lisa Monnas, who notes that though samites were sometimes woven competely in silk, they could also be half-silks, with linen main warps. She suggests that the form 'Samitelli [cf. samitellus, etc.] may have indicated a slightly cheaper, plainer version of this silk' [Monnas, L. (1989), 284-5]. She further notes an apparent decline in royal purchases of 'samyts' and 'samitelli' during the fourteenth century: ‘Samyt was last purchased by the Great Wardrobe towards the end of Edward III’s reign, in 1370-71, when 3 pieces 7¾ ells were bought, the remnants of this cloth lingering on in the Great Wardrobe until the end of Richard II’s reign in 1377’ [Monnas, L. (1989) 289; with ref. to 'PRO E.361.5.9d’].(ante 1150 still in current use)
University of Manchester, Lexis of Cloth & Clothing Project, Search Result For: 'samite'
