nankeen
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English
Etymology
Eye spelling of Nanking, itself a romanization of Chinese 南京 (Nánjīng, literally “Southern capital”).
Noun
nankeen (countable and uncountable, plural nankeens)
- A type of cotton cloth originally from Nanking in China.
- 1885, L. and A. Maude (translators), Leo Tolstoy, "What Men Live By", in What Men Live By and Other Tales
- He put on over his shirt his wife's wadded nankeen jacket, and over that he put his own cloth coat.
- c. 1910-1920, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Thomas Seltzer (translator), A Christmas Tree and a Wedding
- She was a poor widow, and her little boy, clad in a sorry-looking little nankeen jacket, looked thoroughly crushed and intimidated.
- 1885, L. and A. Maude (translators), Leo Tolstoy, "What Men Live By", in What Men Live By and Other Tales