Cord of the King, We Are Not
The Hindu Online, India’s National Newspaper, which I always peruse, recently published a sound dissection of the origin of a word that is among the most hotly contested in etymological circles. What word, you ask, is that?
Corduroy, the familiar durable fabric, has no known linguistic parents though it is said to be the offspring of many a word. Folk etymology has it as originating from French ‘corde du roi’ (cord of the King), but in French the term for the cloth is velours À côtes.
French lineage?
The OED assertion that an 1807 French list of manufactured fabrics included the English words ‘kings-cordes’ cast doubt on fabric’s French lineage. Since the term first appeared in American English in 1787, and ‘cord’ is used for a specific quantity of cut wood, a stack of cut wood could have led to the thick strong cotton cloth (duroy) with thin raised lines on it being called corduroy.
Corde is from Latin corda, meaning string, hence an electric cord. Duroy was a type of rough woollen cloth made in England (17-19 centuries). Therefore someone with active imagination could have called duroy that was ribbed as corduroy. Another possible explanation is that when corduroy was first made from silk, some enterprising manufacturer with a surname Corderoy (there is such a surname) named it after himself as a sales or promotion gimmick.
Neglected, of course, are thoughts on exactly where Corduroy the fabric, regardless of name, came from. I subscribe to the Fustian theory which suggests Corduroy was from ancient Egypt. But as far as the name, Corduroy, I like to think there was just somebody named Corduroy.
Corduroy is referred to as a “lesser” fabric at one point, which is unfortunate, but please read the article in it’s entirety here. If you can wade through all the garbage about velvet, there’s a good bit on satin, which seems has always reminded me of Satan, but that’s another story.
Lastly, to all you know-it-alls out there, who simply cannot resist telling me the following: “Are you aware that Corduroy was the kings cloth? Yep. It was worn by French royalty!” PLEASE. Just. Stop.