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samite

UK/ˈsæmaɪt/US/ˈsæmaɪt/
nounC2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechToo rare in one of the two pools to compare — fewer than 20 uses in speech or in writing

Samite is a rich silk cloth interwoven with gold. A gown of samite.

It was among the most expensive cloths in medieval Europe and was reserved for church and court. Samite is the cloth the arm holds up in the Arthurian stories, which is where most readers meet the word.

unknown weaver · Public domain

Definitions of samite

  1. 1nounsamiteA rich silk cloth interwoven with gold.C2

    “The samite had held its colour for six hundred years.”

samite is a cloth.

Where it comes from

Through Old French from Medieval Greek hexamiton, six threads, from the six threads of its weave.

  1. Medieval Greek

    ἑξάμιτον

  2. Medieval Latin

    samitum

  3. Old French

    samit

  4. Middle English

    samite

  5. English, today

    samite

Built from

  • ἕξ · Ancient Greek — six
  • μίτος · Ancient Greek — thread

From Middle English samite, from Old French samit, from Medieval Latin samitum, examitum, from Medieval Greek ἑξάμιτον, from ἕξ (“six”) + μίτος (“thread”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Song of Ice and Fire

Practise this word