Dimity (given name)

Dimity
Passer Payez by Louis-Léopold Boilly, 1803. The edge of the woman's dimity cloth chemise is visible beneath the hem of her skirt.
GenderFemale
Language(s)English
Origin
Meaningdimity or English feminine equivalent of Irish Diarmaid, meaning without envy.
A child's bonnet made of white dimity fabric.
A silk dimity handkerchief from the mid-1800s.

Dimity is a rare English feminine given name likely derived from the name for the fabric, which comes from the Greek prefix di, meaning two, and the Greek word mitos, meaning thread.[1]

The Greek term was later used in Latin and was transformed into the Italian word dimiti, which became the English word dimity.[2]

It might also have been used in Ireland as an English feminine version of the Irish name Diarmaid, a name which is possibly derived in part from the Irish dí, which means without; and either from the Irish airmit, which means injunction, or airmait, which means envy.[3]

  1. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. pp. 76–77, 345. ISBN 0-19-861060-2.
  2. ^ Sandel, Abby (24 October 2013). "Dimity: Baby Name of the Day". www.appellationmountain.net. Appellation Mountain (blog). Retrieved 28 May 2023.
  3. ^ Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006). Oxford Dictionary of First Names. Oxford University Press. pp. 76–77, 345. ISBN 0-19-861060-2.