Diapers

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A garment used to absorb fluid waste for babies or those with health issues that provides cleanliness and comfort while preventing skin irritation
2. An absorbent item worn by infants or individuals experiencing incontinence to contain bodily fluids and maintain hygiene
3. A piece of clothing designed to soak up urine and feces for babies or those with bladder control challenges

Etymology: The most surprising thing about this word is that it once named a luxury fabric, not a nappy. "Diaper" came into Middle English as "dyaper" from Old French "diapre", a variant of "dyaspre" or "diaspre", which described an ornamental silk cloth patterned with decorative designs. That silk was called "diaspra" or "diasprum" in Medieval Latin, a term for a rich and valuable silken cloth. The Latin name probably traces back to Medieval Greek "díaspros", meaning "very white" or "pure white". It is built from "dia-", meaning "across", and "áspros", meaning "white". So the fabric's name originally praised its brightness, and the sense of a checked or patterned weave was added along the way. Only later did the word narrow to the absorbent cloth worn by infants. The shift from costly ornamented linen to a practical garment for babies is a long one, and the source does not record the exact steps, so the link between the two senses is best understood as a gradual change in what the cloth was used for.

Synonyms: nappies