Dimity
name, noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 A light strong fabric with woven stripes or squares. countable, uncountable
"Strain the ſoup through a piece of dimity into a clean ſaucepan, and let it ſtew till it is of the thickneſs of cream."
- 2 Alternative form of dimmity (“dusk, twilight”). alt-of, alternative
"The twilight fell mistily—it was the first of the autumn mists—and in the dimity the undispersed families of the tawny owl called to each other, the young with keewick and the old with the proper hooroo, hooroo."
- 3 a strong cotton fabric with a raised pattern; used for bedcovers and curtains wordnet
- 1 A female given name of modern usage.
"1990, Miss Read (Dora Jessie Saint), Friends at Thrush Green, 2002, page 98, 'Raffle books,' she announced. 'What for?' enquired Dimity, feeling for her purse and about to do a vicar's wife's familiar duty."
- 2 A surname.
"The Diaper family lived in Sassafras street—the Dimity family in Pepperidge street; and the fathers of the Diaper girls and the Dimity girls were worth about the same money, and had both made it in the lumber line."
Example
More examples"Strain the ſoup through a piece of dimity into a clean ſaucepan, and let it ſtew till it is of the thickneſs of cream."
Etymology
From earlier dimite, from Middle English demit, demyt, from Medieval Latin dimitum, from Byzantine Greek δίμιτον (dímiton), from Ancient Greek δίμιτος (dímitos, “of double thread”).
The given name is apparently from the name of the light cotton fabric, dimity. However, since it is found primarily as an Irish name, it may have originated as a feminine equivalent of Dermot.
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.