Diapre

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. An old term for a linen or cloth woven with a small repeated design of diamonds or flowers ; to ornament a surface with such a repeating pattern
2. A richly patterned textile whose motif recurs in regular geometric or floral shapes ; to embellish something with an intricate repeated design
3. Patterned fabric featuring a regularly repeated motif of small shapes ; to adorn a surface by working a repeating decorative pattern across it

Etymology: The word "diapre" is an obsolete form of "diaper," and the surprise is that the cloth it named had nothing to do with nappies. It was a rich silk, woven with decorative patterns, that Medieval Latin called "diaspra" or "diasprum." That name probably came from Medieval Greek "díaspros," meaning "very white; pure white," built from "dia-," "across," and "áspros," "white." The word passed through Old French as "diapre," "dyapre," and "dyaspre," and reached Middle English as "dyaper." Its sense of an ornamental fabric survived for centuries before the plainer, absorbent linen cloth we now associate with babies took over the name. "Diapre" itself is the older spelling, kept in the record for the richly patterned textile it first described.

Synonyms: diaper, variegate