chambray

chambray

See also: Chambray

English

blue chambray

Etymology

From French cambrai (“cambric”), and its source, Cambrai, the city in France where it originated; probably with alteration after chamber.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈʃɒmbɹeɪ/, /ˈʃambɹeɪ/

Noun

chambray (countable and uncountable, plural chambrays)

1. A soft fabric woven with a white weft and coloured warp. [from 18th c.]
   • 1793, Jane Austen, ‘A beautiful description of the different effects of Sensibility on different Minds’, Juvenilia:

     She lies wrapped in a book muslin bedgown, a chambray gauze shift, and a french net nightcap.

   • 2012, Stephen King, 11/22/63, p. 787:

     I had bought some jeans and a couple of blue chambray workshirts to replace the kitchen-whites, but such clothes weren't nearly enough.

   • 2022, Ling Ma, “G”, in Bliss Montage, New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, →ISBN:

     Always, the relentless bass of hip-hop blasting in rooms of nautical-themed furnishings, faded driftwood, gingham upholstery, linen and chambray.

Related terms

• cambric

See also

• gingham