/ˈsæt.ɪn/, [ˈsæt.n̩], [ˈsæʔ.n̩]
OriginFrom French satin, which is derived from "Zaitun", the Arabic name for the Chinese city of Quanzhou, itself derived from Arabic زَيْتُون (zaytūn, “Zayton; olive”), from phono-semantic matching from Chinese 刺桐 (MC tshjeH duwng, “coral tree”) in 刺桐城 (MC tshjeH duwng dzyeng, “coral tree town”), an old name for Quanzhou.
- countable, uncountableA cloth woven from silk, nylon or polyester with a glossy surface and a dull back. (The same weaving technique applied to cotton produces cloth termed sateen).
“Ibn Batuta informs us that a rich silk texture made here was called Zaitûniya; and there can be little doubt that this is the real origin of our word Satin,—Zettani in mediæval Italian, Aceytuni in Sp”
- countable, obsolete, slang, uncountableGin (the drink).
“'This poor gal was robbed, barely left a stitch, that and the drink... mind, I likes a drop of satin – wot you'd call gin – myself. I'll say nothing against it. She ended thrown out of an upstairs win”
- transitiveTo make (paper, silver, etc.) smooth and glossy like satin.
Formssatins(plural) · satins(present, singular, third-person) · satining(participle, present) · satined(participle, past) · satined(past)