napery n. – tablecloths, napkins, and doilies. Derived from “nape”: cloth
from the World Book Dictionary, 1969 edition
Napery is general for table linens. If memory serves, I believe that, originally, only a tablecloth was placed on the table, and people used that to wipe hands and faces as needed.
When someone realized that smaller cloths, put on the table for the express purpose of personal hygiene, would leave the tablecloth cleaner and in need of less-frequent washings, the diminutive form was likely coined to set them aside from their larger relative.
Topi Linkala:
July 3rd, 2011 at 3:49 pm
How about the ‘nap’ in kindnapping?
John Hawklyn:
January 13th, 2015 at 12:56 pm
One thought: Could there be a connection with arrowhead making? To Knap? Pronounced like nap? I’ve seen knappers when knapping use a leather chap on their laps to protect their legs against accidental cuts from the flint fragments.
Joanns Suttile:
November 12th, 2016 at 1:13 pm
My five year old grandson asked the derivation of the word “napkin”. Thank you for yet another thorough explanation.
The Latin/French origin seems to be correct, as well as the explanation for the diminutive “kin”, although the meaning of something related could be taken in appreciation, since it’s a small cloth that is related to a larger one. In Portuguese, a napkin is a “guardanapo” and there isn’t any word in that language as “napo”. So, the word means a cloth that protects something, therefore, a “guard-nappe”, if such a word would exist.
Robert Robinson:
May 16th, 2018 at 11:19 pm
Then there’s nape of the neck. Hence a napekin became napkin.
Fred Baker:
July 3rd, 2020 at 2:42 pm
Weird to find it here
John 11:44, KJV: “And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.”
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Lynne:
March 29th, 2011 at 3:17 am
napery n. – tablecloths, napkins, and doilies. Derived from “nape”: cloth
from the World Book Dictionary, 1969 edition
Napery is general for table linens. If memory serves, I believe that, originally, only a tablecloth was placed on the table, and people used that to wipe hands and faces as needed.
When someone realized that smaller cloths, put on the table for the express purpose of personal hygiene, would leave the tablecloth cleaner and in need of less-frequent washings, the diminutive form was likely coined to set them aside from their larger relative.
Topi Linkala:
July 3rd, 2011 at 3:49 pm
How about the ‘nap’ in kindnapping?
John Hawklyn:
January 13th, 2015 at 12:56 pm
One thought: Could there be a connection with arrowhead making? To Knap? Pronounced like nap? I’ve seen knappers when knapping use a leather chap on their laps to protect their legs against accidental cuts from the flint fragments.
Joanns Suttile:
November 12th, 2016 at 1:13 pm
My five year old grandson asked the derivation of the word “napkin”. Thank you for yet another thorough explanation.
Lailson de Holanda Cavalcanti:
February 27th, 2017 at 9:27 am
The Latin/French origin seems to be correct, as well as the explanation for the diminutive “kin”, although the meaning of something related could be taken in appreciation, since it’s a small cloth that is related to a larger one. In Portuguese, a napkin is a “guardanapo” and there isn’t any word in that language as “napo”. So, the word means a cloth that protects something, therefore, a “guard-nappe”, if such a word would exist.
Robert Robinson:
May 16th, 2018 at 11:19 pm
Then there’s nape of the neck. Hence a napekin became napkin.
Fred Baker:
July 3rd, 2020 at 2:42 pm
Weird to find it here
John 11:44, KJV: “And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.”