cord
.
Searchable Lemmata: corde (AF), chorda (L), corde (ME), cord (OScots), cord (MdE).
Alternate Forms: cordas, chordam, cordis.
Definitions and Defining Citations:
1(n.)
Accessory;
cord, string, ligament, etc. (with various senses); here, a cord worn as a girdle by Franciscans, giving rise to the fifteenth-century ME designation 'cordeler' (variants: cordelere, cordylere and cordelyn; a Franciscan friar). Evidence provided reflects this sense only. AF attestations from AND2 do not include any with cloth & clothing contexts, although note that the word was generally used for rope, twine, ligament or bonds of various sorts, as well as being used in heraldry to refer to a tassel-shape (on an armorial bearing; c1350).(circa 1245 - 1500)
3. Whan þey schul so go oute of þe Cloyster, þey schul be hosid & schod, beringe none cordis, & þey schulle nat go alone ... þes sustris, after þey been professid, þey schul use bifore gerdellis cordes, whiche shal be made wiþ coriouste
[MED Rule Minoresses ((Bod 585) 84/14) ante 1500]
Sex: Male, Female Use: Ecclesiastical Ceremonial: No
Body Parts: Waist.
Etymological Evidence:
Definite, Old French corde (AF corde), from Classical Latin chorda, corda, ultimately from Greek.
WF:
Etym Cog: corde (OF).
References:
