bodice English · revision 1925

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈbɒdɪs/ ''(UK)''; /ˈbɑdɪs/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is an altered spelling of ''bodies'', plural of [[body]].^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The garment was spoken of as “a pair of bodies”,^(Barnhart 1995)^(OED 1989) and Etymonline explains the plural by the two parts that fastened in the middle.^(Etymonline) For the spelling, compare [[pence]] and [[dice]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The upper part of a woman's dress, a tight-fitting outer vest (1566–7).^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The spelling ''bodice'' appeared in the late 1600s, but the word was treated as a plural until the late 1800s, while the pronunciation following the spelling became established.^(Barnhart 1995) Formerly it also meant an inner garment stiffened with whalebone, a kind of corset,^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) worn chiefly by women but sometimes by men.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) In modern use it is the fitted upper part of a dress, or a laced outer garment worn over a blouse.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU) The humorous compound ''bodice-ripper'', for a racy historical romance novel, dates from about 1980.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1566 – ''bodies'', the upper part of a dress.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1618 – a stiffened inner garment, a corset.^(OED 1989)

+ * late 1600s – the spelling ''bodice''.^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1980 – ''bodice-ripper'' (OED, 1981 in Etymonline).^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The fitted part of a dress from the waist to the shoulders.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A woman's laced outer garment worn like a [[vest]] over a [[blouse]].^(AHD)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(archaic)'' A [[corset]] or [[stays]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[bodice ripper]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[body]]

+ * [[corset]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}