Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “chiffon” come from?

Chiffon comes from French chiffon, from French -on, from Ancient Greek -ον, from Ancient Greek -ος, from Latin -o, from Latin -us, from Latin cippus meaning a small post or stake.

chiffon (English): A sheer silk or rayon fabric; Any purely...

Definitions

  1. A sheer silk or rayon fabric; Any purely...

Ancestry of “chiffon”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchchiffonrag; scrap
2Frenchchifferag; drip
3Middle Frenchchiffecloth, old rag
4Old Frenchchiperag; bit, scrap
5Middle Englishchipfragment, worthless thing; chip, shard, fragment
6Old Englishċippchip; small piece of wood; chip, splinter,...
7Old Englishċippianto cut; hew
8Proto-Germanickipp-to chop; split; to cut; carve; hack; chop
9Proto-Indo-Europeanǵey-to split; divide; germinate; sprout; to split;...

Words derived from “chiffon”

  • chiffony
  • chiffonlike
Every word from Proto-Indo-European ǵey- →