burellatus

Speculative, The DMLBS does not provide a definition for 'burellatus'; its occurrence in conjunction with 'sericus' ( made of silk) to describe the same cloth in the two attestations listed in the DMLBS precludes its association with 'burel' ('coarse cloth'), from which it would seem to be derived otherwise. The occurrence of burellatus with 'scacciatus' ('checkered') in the first of the two attestations suggests that it describes a feature of the cloth rather than its material. We suggest the hypothetical meaning 'thinly striped / with thin stripes', which corresponds therefore to Anglo-French burelé 'striped' and Middle English burled (q.v.) 'striped'. Such a meaning could have developed according to the following speculative derivation: from Lat. 'barratus' (DMLBS barrare, sense 2: 'banded, striped'), + diminutive suffix '-ellus' + corruption of the root vowel a > u, perhaps influenced by 'burel'. Old French burelé (see burled) is attested at almost exactly the same time with the same meaning, so an alternative explanation involving the 'strip' meaning of bure is also possible.