cravat

Pronunciation

• IPA: /kɹəˈvat/ (UK); /kɹəˈvæt/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French cravate,^[2][3][4][5] from Cravate “a Croat”,^[2][3][5][4] from German Krabate,^[2][5][4][6] from Serbo-Croatian Hrvat (“a Croat”).^[2][5][4][6] The neckcloth was named after the linen scarves worn by Croatian mercenaries in the French army.^[2][4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

A neckcloth worn chiefly by men, which came into fashion in France in the 17th century (1656).^[7][4][5] Barnhart's first form is crabbat.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The Croats were light cavalry who fought in the Thirty Years' War;^[5] Etymonline notes that the name was used generically for light cavalry from the Habsburg military frontier, not only for Croats.^[5] Early cravats were of lace or lace-edged linen;^[5][6] the word later came to mean a necktie.^[3][6] It was used figuratively of a hangman's rope (1678),^[7] and in surgery of a bandage folded into a band (1884).^[7][6]

Timeline

• 1656 – a neckcloth worn by men.^[7][4][3]
• 1678 – figurative, in reference to hanging.^[7]
• 1814 – verb, to furnish with a cravat.^[7]
• 1884 – (surgery) a folded triangular bandage.^[7]
• 1903 – a woman's scarf or necklet of lace or fur.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A band or scarf worn around the neck as a tie; a necktie.
2. A lace or lace-trimmed neckcloth worn by men, especially in the 17th century.
3. (medicine) A triangular bandage folded into a band, used for wounds or fractures.

Related words

• Croat

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
3. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press