A lightweight twilled fabric made of silk and cotton, similar to bombazine, often used for dresses and linings in the 18th and 19th centuries.
From bombazine + diminutive -ette suffix (French). Bombazine itself comes from Old French bombazin, ultimately from Arabic qotniah (cotton). The -ette ending indicates a lighter or smaller version of the original fabric.
Bombazette was the fabric of choice for mourning clothes in Victorian England—so much black bombazette and bombazine was worn for funerals that it shaped the entire fashion and textile industries.
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