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Bombazine, orbombasine, is afabric originally made ofsilk or silk andwool, and more recently also made ofcotton and wool or of wool alone. Quality bombazine has a silkwarp and aworstedweft. It istwilled orcorded and used for dress-material: commonly in dresses, skirts, and jackets. It was a heavy and dense fabric, with a fine diagonal rib that ran through the weave of the fabric. Black bombazine was used largely formourning wear in 16th-century and 17th-century Europe,[1]but the material had gone out of fashion by the beginning of the 20th century.[2]
Etymologists derive the English term "bombazine" from an Anatolian word[citation needed] inGreek: βόμβυξ ("silkworm"), via Latinbombyx ("silkworm") and the obsoleteFrench termbombasin, applied originally to silk but afterwards to tree-silk or cotton.[3]Bombazine is said to have been made inEngland in the time ofElizabeth I (r. 1558–1603), and early in the 19th century it was largely made atNorwich.[4]
Bombazine or Bombasin[:] A fabric with a silk warp and worsted weft with a twilled finish, with worsted on the face side to give the fabric the dull finish required for mourning.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bombazine".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 190. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Bombazine".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 4 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 190.Bombazine is said to have been made in England in Queen Elizabeth's reign and early in the 19th century it was largely made in Norwich.