nankeen

English

Etymology

Eye spelling of Nanking, itself a romanization of Chinese 南京 (Nánjīng, literally “Southern capital”).

Noun

nankeen (countable and uncountable, plural nankeens)

1. A type of cotton cloth originally from Nanking in China.
   • 1885, L. and A. Maude (translators), Leo Tolstoy, "What Men Live By", in What Men Live By and Other Tales

     He put on over his shirt his wife's wadded nankeen jacket, and over that he put his own cloth coat.

   • c. 1910-1920, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Thomas Seltzer (translator), A Christmas Tree and a Wedding

     She was a poor widow, and her little boy, clad in a sorry-looking little nankeen jacket, looked thoroughly crushed and intimidated.

Derived terms

• nankeen kestrel (Falco cenchroides)
• nankeen night heron (Nycticorax caledonicus, also nankeen bird, nankeen crane, nankeen heron)