osnaburg

English

Etymology

From Osnaburg, the former English name of the German city of Osnabrück (from which it may have been first imported into English-speaking countries).

Noun

osnaburg (countable and uncountable, plural osnaburgs)

1. (now chiefly US) A plain, coarse textile fabric made from flax, tow or jute yarns. [from 15th c.]
   • 1791, Charlotte Smith, Celestina, Broadview, published 2004, page 258:

     [I]f he attended those solemn meetings at which the price of freight or the quality of Osnaburghs was discussed, he turned the venerable persons of the old merchants and grocers into ridicule […] .

Adjective

osnaburg (comparative more osnaburg, superlative most osnaburg)

1. (now chiefly US) Designating or made from this fabric. [from 17th c.]
   • 2019, Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Water Dancer, Penguin Books (2020), pages 11–12:

     So that winter morning, I put on my osnaburg shirt and pants.