Guimpes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A garment worn around the neck and shoulders to cover the chest and upper arms, typically made of lightweight fabric and used as a modesty or decorative piece in historical and religious attire
2. A shoulder and neck covering, often crafted from delicate material, designed to provide modesty by concealing the décolletage and upper arms, commonly associated with traditional and clerical clothing
3. An item of clothing draped over the shoulders and chest, usually light and semi-transparent, serving as a modesty accessory or part of formal or ecclesiastical dress styles

Etymology: "Guimpes" is the plural of "guimpe", a French noun for a covering of cloth worn around the neck and shoulders, and the word is a near-twin of the English "wimple". Both descend from a Frankish term for a head scarf, "wimpil", formed from a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to wind" or "to sling" combined with an instrumental suffix, so the original idea was simply something wound or wrapped around the body. The Old French form "guimple" was the name for the head covering worn by women, especially nuns, and English took the same word as "wimple" from Old English "wimpel" and "winpel", which also meant a head scarf. The French "guimpe" then narrowed its sense to a neckline insert or fitted covering, and the plural "guimpes" is the form you meet in descriptions of that garment. A second Old French word, "guimpre", meaning a kind of trimming, came from the same Germanic source and likely blended with the head-covering sense, which helps explain how the term drifted from headwear toward a garment for the neck and shoulders.

Synonyms: blouses, bodices, smocks