Denim
/ˈdɛnɪm/noun
A durable cotton twill fabric, usually blue, used especially for jeans.
Did you know?Denim’s name comes from French serge de Nîmes, meaning cloth “of Nîmes,” though the exact fabric sold under that name was not the same as the later English denim.
Etymological Timeline
Medieval Latin
Latin
de Nemauso
“of Nîmes, the French city name in Latinized form”
16th Century
French
serge de Nîmes
“serge cloth from Nîmes”
17th Century
French
denim
“a sturdy cotton or woolen fabric, originally associated with Nîmes”
Late 17th Century
English
denim
“a strong twilled cotton fabric”