English

Noun

stomacher ‎(plural stomachers)

1. (obsolete) A type of men's waistcoat. [15th-18th c.]
2. (now chiefly historical) An ornamental cloth, often embellished with embroidery or jewelry, worn over the chest by women beneath their bodices or by men and women as the central part of an open shirt, blouse, or jacket.
   • 1611, The Bible, Authorized (King James) Version, Isaiah 3.24:

     And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher [transl. פְּתִיגִיל] a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.

   • 1851, Commissioners for the Exhibition of 1851, Official descriptive and illustrated catalogue: Volume 2, page 689:

     Stomacher brooch of brilliants and fine oriental pearls.

   • 1853, Charles Dickens, Bleak House:

     She is a fine old lady, handsome, stately, wonderfully neat, and has such a back and such a stomacher that if her stays should turn out when she dies to have been a broad old-fashioned family fire-grate, nobody who knows her would have cause to be surprised.

   • 1890, Oscar Wilde, The Picture of Dorian Gray, ch. XI:

     Here, from the fading canvas, smiled Lady Elizabeth Devereux, in her gauze hood, pearl stomacher, and pink slashed sleeves.

   • 1964, Mona Curran, Collecting Antique Jewellery, Emerson Books, page 76:

     From about 1850 onwards jewellery varied between these outsize sprays, stomachers and corsage montages and smaller, more delicate pieces which appeared almost understated by contrast.

   • 2006, Judith Pascoe, The Hummingbird Cabinet, Cornell University Press, ISBN 978-0-8014-4362-6, page 58:

     The most striking accessory of all, however, was a diamond stomacher, a kind of lapidary bib that covered the princess's chest and stomach. We do not know exactly what Charlotte was thinking as she stood under the weight of silver, ermine, velvet, and jewels. But we know what many who saw her thought about her stomacher.

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Latin

Verb

stomacher

1. first-person singular present active subjunctive of stomachor