ciclatoun

English

Alternative forms

• checklaton, siclatoun

Etymology

From Middle English ciclatoun, from Old French siglaton, (chiefly) Anglo-French cyclaton and Anglo-Latin cyclaton, from Arabic سِقِلّاطُون (siqillāṭūn).

Noun

ciclatoun (countable and uncountable, plural ciclatouns)

1. A costly cloth, of uncertain material, used in the Middle Ages.
   • 1904, Transactions - Bristol and Gloucestershire Archaeological Society, page 241:

     There were but two complete suits—the best, of green and blue ciclatouns, with orphreys of ray velvet; another of blue ciclatouns and plunket.

   • 1932, Max von Boehn, Modes and Manners, volume I (From the Decline of the Ancient World to the Renaissance), New York, N.Y.: Benjamin Blom, Inc., published 1971, page 209:

     The mantle was of ciclatoun lined with ermine and edged with sable.

   • 1934, Ramón Menéndez Pidal, The Cid and His Spain, London: John Murray, pages 184–185:

     On September 5, 1082, Gonzalo Salvadorez bade farewell to the monastery of Oña, and, as was the custom of all who were about to set out for war, made his will. “[…] If I be slain by the Moors, I commend my soul to God and my mortal remains to Oña, to whose altar I bequeath 1,600 maravedis, three of my best horses, two mules, my clothing with two robes of ciclatoun and three purple cloaks, and also two silver goblets. […]” […] Among the knights who appear at the King’s Court magnificently arrayed in coloured robes and fur cloaks, the Campeador, “he of the great beard”, is an outstanding figure, and his dress is described in detail: hose of good material; elaborate shoes; a shirt of the finest linen, embroidered in gold and silver at the neck and cuffs; a rich tunic of ciclatoun, interwoven with gold; and, over this, the garment that specially distinguished him, a red pelisse with gold borders; then, over all, his priceless mantle. There is nothing Oriental about this dress. Although the costly, gold-woven cloth called ciclatoun would come generally from the East, the material was in use throughout Europe.

   • 1960, Gottfried von Straßburg (12th–13th century Middle High German), translated by not given, Tristan, published 2004, →ISBN:

     He wore rare, fine clothes of ciclatoun of quite unusual splendour. […] Over its outer surface lay a net of tiny pearls, its meshes a hand’s breadth apart, through which the ciclatoun burned like glowing embers.

Anagrams

• noctiluca

Middle English

Alternative forms

• ciclaton, cheklatoun, cheklaton, chekelatoun, chekelaton, checkelatoun, checklatoun, shecklaton

Etymology

From Old French siglaton, (chiefly) Anglo-French cyclaton and Anglo-Latin cyclaton, from Arabic سِقِلّاطُون (siqillāṭūn).

Noun

ciclatoun (plural ciclatouns)

1. A costly cloth, of uncertain material, used in the Middle Ages.
   • 1387–1400, Geoffrey Chaucer, “The Ryme of Syr Thopas”, in The Canterbury Tales, [Westminster: William Caxton, published 1478], →OCLC; republished in [William Thynne], editor, The Workes of Geffray Chaucer Newlye Printed, […], [London]: […] [Richard Grafton for] Iohn Reynes […], 1542, →OCLC:

     His robe was of ciclatoun, / That coste many a Jane.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Anagrams

• noctiluca