Fustian
/ˈfʌs.ti.ən/noun
A coarse, sturdy cotton or cotton-blend fabric, or speech that is pompous and inflated.
Did you know?In the Middle Ages, fustian was a practical cloth, but by the 17th century its name had already shifted into a metaphor for grand, overstuffed rhetoric.
Etymological Timeline
Medieval Arabic
Arabic
fūṭa
“a cloth or wrap”
Medieval Greek
Greek
phōstáni
“a garment or tunic”
Old Italian
Italian
fustagno
“fustian cloth”
14th Century
Middle English
fustian
“a coarse woven fabric, especially a cotton-weave cloth with a raised nap”
17th Century
English
fustian
“pompous, inflated, or pretentious language”
Modern English
English
fustian
“coarse cloth; inflated or pretentious speech”
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