Standard Lemma guide

nankeen

noun · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

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Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A type of cotton cloth originally from Nanking in China.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Examples

  • 1885, L. and A. Maude (translators), Leo Tolstoy, "What Men Live By", in What Men Live By and Other Tales He put on over his shirt his wife's wadded nankeen jacket, and over that he put his own cloth coat.
  • c. 1910-1920, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Thomas Seltzer (translator), A Christmas Tree and a Wedding She was a poor widow, and her little boy, clad in a sorry-looking little nankeen jacket, looked thoroughly crushed and intimidated.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

a durable fabric formerly loomed by hand in China from natural cotton having a yellowish color

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fabric, cloth, material, textile

History

Etymology

Eye spelling of Nanking, itself a romanization of Chinese 南京 (Nánjīng, literally “Southern capital”).