Glossary of Terms Used in the Runaway Advertisements

Many of the terms used in the 18th- and 19th-century advertisements had different meanings than today's terms. The following is designed to aid the student in understanding the earlier menaings of the words used in the advertisements. Please send any suggestions of words that need to be added to tmc5a@mcs.uvawise.edu.

C

calamanco: a woolen fabric, checked on one side, glossy on the other, originated in Flanders, common in the 18th century

calico: name for a variety of cotton cloths imported from the east, often dyed in vibrant colors, originally named for an Indian port; later used for plain cotton, bleached or unbleached

callimanco: version of calamanco

camblet: cloth made of wool and silk, originally mixture of silk and camel hair, also camlet

copperas: a compound of iron or iron-sulphate, used in dyeing or tanning cloth, or making ink; normally green, blue, or blue-green

crocus: a  yellow dye from the crocus or saffron flower, or the fabric (coarse linen made from flax or hemp), dyed yellow, used mainly to clothe slaves or servants

cupping: a medical term indicating the practice of drawing blood through a glass or ceramic cup applied to scarified skin using a vacuum

D

damask: an expensive silk fabric containing elaborate designs, usually in a veriety of colors, later applied to any fabric (wool, cotton, or linen) woven with similar designs

dimity: a ridged cotton cloth, usually fine, sometimes classed with silk and satin

do.: abbreviation for ditto; the same

drab: a thick, heavy wool fabric, of a dull color, brown or yellow-brown

drugget: a coarse wool, or a mixture of wool and silk or wool and linen, later used for floor coverings, or table cloths

duffill: variation of duffel; a coarse wool with a thick nap, named for Duffel, a town in Brabant, Holland

duroy: a coarse wool, similar to tammy

F

fustian: a coarse cloth, made of cotton and flax, sometimes dyed olive or other dark color

fretten: spotted, as in pock-fretten, marked by the smallpox

frock: a long outer garment worn mainly by men

G

gaol: variation of jail, sometimes written as goal

goal: see gaol

H

hemp: a coarse fabric made of the fiber of the hemp plant

hempen: made of hemp or pertaining to hemp, coarse

I

instant: a convention in writing indicating the same month as the date of the letter or advertisement, abbreviated inst. See also ultimo

K

K.P.G.: in captured ads, abbrevation for "Keeper of the Public Gaol (Jail)"

kersey: a coarse woolen cloth, often ribbed, perhaps named for English village of Kersey in Suffolk

L

likely: suitable, able, well fitted

lusty: healthy, strong, active

M

mulatto: descendant of a white parent and a black parent, or light brown in color, the appearance of a mulatto

N

nankeen: a cotton cloth, named for Nanking, China, sometimes dyed yellow

O

osnaburg: a coarse linen, named for Osnabruck, a town in Germany, used to clothe slaves and servants; also osnabrig, osnabrug, oznabrig, oznabrigg, oznabrug, oznaburg

P

pettiauger: a small boat, similar to a canoe, variation of pirogue; also petty-augre

pistole: a Spanish coin, worth around 18 shillings. See essay on currency

plains: similar to flannel; plain cloth

S

sagathy: a wollen cloth

sensible: capable of or easily understood

shalloon: a coarse wool, used sometimes for linings

T

taminy: version of tamin or tammy

tammy: a worsted cloth of good quality, sometimes with a shiny finish; the term not much used after mid-nineteenth century

U

ultimo: a convention in writing, meaning the month prior to the date of the letter or advertisement, abbreviated ult. See also instant