Armole

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The opening in a garment through which the arm passes, especially the cut-out edge around the shoulder and underarm area of a sleeveless top
2. The armhole of a shirt, jacket, or other clothing, the curved gap where a sleeve is attached to the body of the garment
3. A garment's opening for the arm, bounded by the shoulder seam and the side seam, sometimes called the armscye in tailoring

Etymology: The garment sense is the core of this word. An armhole is the opening in a shirt, coat, or bodice through which the arm passes, and armole is an older, rarer spelling of the same thing. Its parts are plain: "arm" from Old English "earm" and "hole," a gap or opening. The final "-ole" is a sign of the older spelling, not a separate suffix. Medieval tailoring often used "armhole" for the same opening, and "armscye," a word of uncertain origin, competed with both for the curved edge around the shoulder. The spelling "armole" survives mainly in older texts and dictionaries, so it is most often met in historical writing about clothing.

Synonyms: armhole