chemise

noun

che·​mise shə-ˈmēz 

 sometimes  -ˈmēs

1

: a woman's one-piece undergarment

2

: a loose straight-hanging dress

Examples of chemise in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Amazon has all sorts of one-piece styles to choose from—including dreamy, detailed teddies and lace babydoll chemises, as well as plunging bodysuits with bold mesh cut-outs. —Malia Griggs, Glamour, 10 Dec. 2024

Not long afterward, Gaye took their teenage daughter to Victoria’s Secret in search of a silk chemise. —Andrew Cockburn, Harper's Magazine, 22 Aug. 2024

Bedhead PJs Bedhead PJs’ 2024 Mother’s Day collection includes pajama sets, robes, and chemises in several lovely patterns. —Phoebe Sklansky, Parents, 26 Apr. 2024

She is dressed in a white chemise that falls off one shoulder. —Washington Post, 24 May 2023

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, going back to Old French cheminse, chamisae "tunic-like garment worn directly against the skin," going back to Late Latin camīsia, perhaps borrowed from a continental Celtic word borrowed from West Germanic *hamiþja- (whence Old English hemeþe "undergarment, tunic, shirt," Old Frisian hemethe, hemede, hamed, Old Saxon hemithi, Old High German hemidi), derivative, with the dental suffix *-iþja-, of Germanic *hama- or *haman- "shape, human form, covering" (whence Old English hama [masculine weak noun] "covering, womb, afterbirth, slough of a snake," Old Norse hamr "skin, shape (assumed by a supernatural entity)," and in compounds Old Frisian līkhoma, lichama "body, corpse," Old Saxon gūthhamo "battle shirt," līkhamo "body, corpse," Old High German gundhamo, līhnamo), of uncertain origin

Note: The word chemise occurs once in Middle English, presumably borrowed from Anglo-French, but as a designation for a woman's garment it does not occur after that until the eighteenth century, when it was reborrowed from French. Late Latin camīsia was taken directly into Old English as cemes "shirt, undergarment," continued in Middle English as kemes, kemse, but not surviving any later. The kind of garment designated by camīsia, a sort of close-fitting shirt worn by men, was apparently not familiar to the Romans, so Latin had no name for it; the tunica "tunic," usually at least knee-length and belted, was evidently not the same. The earliest attestation of camīsia, in a letter of jerome (Epistolae 64.11), describes it as having "close-fitting sleeves" ("strictis manicis") descending to the legs ("… usque ad crura descendat"); camīsia was the vernacular name for such a garment, worn by soldiers ("… solent militares habere lineas, quas camisias vocant" - "soldiers customarily possess linen garments, which they call camisiae"). The etymology given above is often accepted, but it is not without obscurities. The reflection of Germanic initial h as c in camīsia is peculiar, as is the long i, attested as short in outcomes of the etymon only in easternmost Romance (Romanian, Dalmatian, dialects of northeast Italy). British Celtic languages have what appears to be an early loan from Old English hemeþe, though with a sibilant that is perhaps owed to the Latin word: Welsh hefys, hefis "woman's undergarment" (ca. 1400 heuis), Old Cornish heuis (glossing colobium "sleeveless tunic"), Old Breton hemis (in guest-hemisiou, glossing lāticlāvia "tunic with a broad purple stripe"). The Germanic etymon has been further compared with Sanskrit śāmulya- "garment," though given the lack of other evidence this connection is questionable.

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

chemise

noun

che·​mise shə-ˈmēz 

-ˈmēs

1

: a woman's one-piece undergarment

2

: a loose dress that hangs straight