Etonn.
/ˈiːtn/, U.S. /ˈitn/ I. Compounds.
1. attributive.
a. Designating a present or former pupil of Eton College, as Eton boy, Eton man, etc.
ΘΚΠ
society > education > learning > learner > one attending school > [adjective] > pupil of specific school
Eton1663
Wykehamical1844
Shirburnian1859
1663 J. Beale Let. 9 Nov. in R. Boyle Corr. (2001) II. 203 When I was an Eton Scholar I fell very sicke.
1753 World 31 May 131 It means the highest mark of distinction that an Eton boy is capable of receiving.
1865 Trans. National Assoc. Promotion Social Sci. 1864 444 In thirteen years Eton men have won eight of these first-rate honours at Cambridge, and five similar ones at Oxford.
1883 American 6 333 Any average Eton boy could give points to His Holiness in the matter of Latin verses.
1926 C. Oman in F. J. C. Hearnshaw Polit. Princ. Some Notable Prime Ministers 19th Cent. ii. 16 He could appreciate a telling classical quotation, while observing that his own classics were those of an Eton boy in the Remove.
1967 E. A. Nordlinger Working-class Tories iii. 65 A sizeable proportion of pragmatists preferred the peer's son but not the Eton man.
1991 K. Tester Animals & Society v. 102 The parents of the Eton pupils believed that only they and their class were the representatives of human being in its purest form.
2011 J. F. Price Prince William vi. 98 A local pub popular with Eton students for generations.
b. Of, relating to, or associated with Eton College or its pupils.
ΚΠ
1717 A. Snape (title) A rod for the Eaton schoolmaster's back.
1747 T. Gray Let. Nov. in Corr. (1971) I. 289 As to my Eton Ode, Mr. Dodsley [sc. the publisher] is padrone.
1798 G. Colman Heir at Law iv. iii. 60 A gig? Umph! that's an Eton phrase—the Westminster call it Quiz.
1827 Ann. Reg. 480/2 Mr. Canning was the sitter in the ‘ten-oar’ at the Eton regatta.
1860 C. Dickens Let. 14 Sept. (1997) IX. 308 I have never seen a gentleman so perfectly acquainted with boy-nature as the Eton master.
1905 H. A. Vachell Hill xii. 268 The Eton captain had made up his mind to win this match with singles and twos.
1959 Chambers's Encycl. V. 422/1 The classical tradition in Eton education..remains strong to-day.
1989 J. Honey Does Accent Matter? v. 85 Angela, a second-year undergraduate at Trinity College, is quoted as saying, ‘Eton accents are decidedly uncool.’
2010 Daily Tel. 13 May 10/4 The Eton scholarship is a really tough one.
2. Designating or relating to clothing, etc., worn by or characteristic of Eton College pupils.
a. Eton jacket n. a jacket resembling the short black jacket formerly worn by the younger pupils of Eton College instead of a tailcoat, having an open front, broad lapels, and a point at the back; the Eton College jacket itself. Cf. Eton-jacketed adj. at sense 2d.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > jacket > short
roundabout1812
spencer1831
Eton jacket1850
Eton1885
bum-perisher1889
bum-shaver1889
perisher1889
bolero1892
bum-freezer1929
bum-starver1930
bum-freezer jacket1943
blouson1958
monkey jacket1968
Harrington1982
1850 Manch. Examiner & Times 3 Aug. They are called for distinction the Eton Jacket, and are made of their beautiful Llama Cloth.
1885 Daily Miner (Butte, Montana) 10 Mar. 1/4 The newest finish for Zouave and Eton jackets is to edge them all around with very small fancy..buttons.
1955 L. E. Jones Victorian Boyhood iii. 164 We had arrived at Eton in tails and Eton jacket respectively.
2002 Providence (Rhode Island) Jrnl.-Bull. (Nexis) 11 Oct. c1 The tall, elegant waiter in the Eton jacket and bowtie leaned tactfully over the table.
b. Eton suit n. a boy's or man's suit consisting of an Eton jacket with trousers and a waistcoat; (also) a woman's suit with a similar jacket and a skirt.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > set or suit of clothes > [noun] > other
shiftc1570
under-suita1586
doublet and hose1603
siropa1671
frock-clothes1769
costume1797
poncho dress1811
tongs1845
Eton suit1859
sailor's suit1869
Prince Albert1873
Norfolk suit1880
sailor suit1880
ready-made1882
Etons1888
buster suit1903
Mallaby-Deeley1920
tiddly suit1943
utility1945
shell suit1973
Mao suit1993
gansey2009
1859 Morning Post 19 Oct. 1/5 The Harrow or Eton suits, from 38s.
1894 Million 5 377/2 Among the ladies riding was Lady ——, in an Eton suit and blue sailor hat.
1913 C. Mackenzie Sinister St. I. i. viii. 124 A new Eton suit well became him.
2012 Observer (Nexis) 25 May 10 He ran the choir like a public school and dressed us up like little toffs in Eton suits.
c. Eton collar n. a broad, stiff white collar worn outside the coat collar, especially with an Eton jacket; (also) a similar collar on a woman's dress or jacket.Originally (but no longer) worn by pupils of Eton College.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > neck-wear > [noun] > collar > types of > other
rabat1578
falling band1581
rebato1589
fall1598
piccadill1607
golilla1673
collarettea1685
banda1700
turn-over1716
Vandyke1755
falling-down collar1758
falling collar1770
fall-down?1796
yoke collar1817
rabatine1821
dicky1830
dog collar1852
Piccadilly collar1853
all-rounder1854
all round1855
turnover collara1861
Quaker collar1869
Eton collar1875
Toby collar1885
Eton1887
sailor collar1895
roll-neck1898
Shakespeare collar1907
polo collar1909
white-collar1910
tab collar1928
Peter Pan collar1948
tie-neck1968
1875 Myra's Jrnl. Dress & Needlework Nov. All the new lingerie is low, rounded, or turned down like a boy's Eton collar.
1925 Queen 22 Apr. 11 Its prim Eton collar, its daintiness of finish with its jabot and cuffs of pleated lawn.
1955 C. S. Lewis Magician's Nephew i. 7 In those days, if you were a boy you had to wear a stiff Eton collar every day.
2011 Cathedral Music May 49/2 David was feeling somewhat self-conscious, wearing for the first time his Eton collar and black tie.
d. Eton-jacketed adj. wearing an Eton jacket.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > wearing clothing > [adjective] > wearing clothing for body (and limbs) > wearing a jacket > types of
Eton-jacketed1888
blazered1931
tuxedoed1934
anoraked1960
mackinawed1960
1888 Chautauquan July 596/2 The Eton-jacketed pages flit hither and thither at the bidding of the members.
1924 J. C. Harker Studio & Stage xiv. 224 A small Eton-jacketed boy..occupied a seat immediately behind mine.
1997 Record (Kitchener-Waterloo, Ont.) (Nexis) 9 May a17 They didn't want to play later Beatles tunes looking like the mop-haired Eton-jacketed early edition.
e. Eton crop n. now chiefly historical a woman's hairstyle popular in the 1920s, in which the hair is cut close to the head all over and often slicked down. Cf. Eton-cropped adj. at sense 2f.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [noun] > cut or cropped > for women
Eton crop1925
bob1926
windblown bob1933
bubble cut1948
urchin haircut1951
garçon1956
1925 Illustr. London News 3 Oct. There are the original shingle, the Eton crop, and the fascinating compromise between the two.
1968 Times 13 Aug. 5/5 The majority of the models wore Eton crops or chin-length bobs scraped back with the modicum of decoration.
2002 L. Jobey in Granta Winter 29 The photograph is of a young woman with an Eton crop wearing a backless cotton sunsuit.
f. Eton-cropped adj. now chiefly historical having an Eton crop.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > beautification > beautification of the person > beautification of the hair > styles of hair > [adjective] > cut short
shornc1050
polleda1325
ydoddeda1400
rounded?a1439
nottedc1440
gallows-rounded1567
stubbed1627
well-cropped1805
well-shaven1842
bobbed1918
Eton-cropped1925
crew-cropped1938
crew cut1940
urchin cut1951
1925 Charleston (W. Va.) Daily Mail 20 Nov. 1/4 The stern, mannish line of the small hat crammed upon an Eton-cropped head..has been ordained a thing of the past.
1995 Guardian (Nexis) 23 Oct. 3 I fell in love with Miss Barr, whom I see now as a tall, Eton-cropped figure of improbable elegance.
3. Eton blue adj. and n. (a) adj. of a light shade of blue, or (formerly) greenish-blue, resembling that adopted as the colours of Eton College; (b) n. a light shade of blue or (formerly) greenish-blue.
ΘΚΠ
the world > matter > colour > named colours > blue or blueness > [noun] > light blue
watchetc1405
vessey colour1562
fesse1587
Venice blue1598
Turkey colour1661
powder blue1752
Eton blue1851
ice-blue1851
periwinkle blue1852
Cambridge blue1858
baby blue1861
starch blue1875
duck's egg1876
pervenche1876
opal blue1881
periwinkle1895
pervenche blue1898
harebell blue1909
horizon-blue1919
Nattier blue1923
zircon blue1928
Mary blue1943
the world > matter > colour > named colours > blue or blueness > [adjective] > light blue
bluec1400
watchet1496
azurine1577
watchet-coloured1609
turkina1630
watercoloured1660
powder blue1789
Eton blue1851
opal blue1856
starch blue1875
watchet-hued1895
1851 Morning Post 28 July 4/4 Dresses—blue flannel shirt, white straw hat, Eton blue ribbon and cravat.
1852 Bell's Life in London 28 Mar. 7/3 The following are the names of the competitors, with the colours they will run in:..Grantham, Eton, Eton Blue.
1899 T. M. Ellis Three Cat's-eye Rings 93 Looking at her wonderingly from his wide Eton-blue eyes.
1923 Philos. Trans. (Royal Soc.) B. 211 12 [The insect] is a soft Eton blue, looking almost as if enamelled.
1963 Harper's Bazaar Feb. 74/2 Eton-blue water.
1992 Evening Standard (Nexis) 1 Apr. 58 Llewellyn will be resplendent in claret with Eton blue spots and cap.
1995 Times 29 June 21/1 His chocolate blazer with its narrow stripes of Eton blue, old gold and scarlet.
4. Eton fives n. a form of fives (fives n.2) associated with Eton College and played on a court with a small protruding buttress (cf. pepperbox n. 4).Recorded earliest in attributive use.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > handball, etc. > [noun] > fives
fives1636
hand tennis1801
Eton fives1855
Rugby fives1859
1855 G. T. Lowth Wanderer in Arabia I. v. 108 A fine set of young fellows..were playing, throwing the ball—just like an Eton fives' ball in size.
1874 W. W. Wood Sketches of Eton ii. 25 The peculiarity of Eton ‘Fives’..consists in the ‘pepperbox’.
1919 Times 25 Mar. 5/4 Eton Fives is a most beautiful game, demanding great skill, quickness, and wrist power.
1959 New Scientist 8 Jan. 72/1 The rest of his time he could give to..whatever took his fancy, including some long vacation cricket and Eton fives.
2013 Evening Standard (Nexis) 13 Mar. 66 I play Eton Fives, a rare sport.
5. Eton football n. either of two codes of football played at Eton College: the field game (see field game n. at field n.1 Compounds 5) and the wall game (see wall-game n. at wall n.1 Compounds 2a).Recorded earliest in Eton Football Club.
ΘΚΠ
society > leisure > sport > types of sport or game > ball game > football > other forms of football > [noun] > Eton
Eton football1856
at the wall1864
wall-game1883
1856 Bell's Life in London 2 Nov. 6/6 An Eton Football Club has just been formed in this university [sc. Cambridge] similar to that already existing at Oxford.
1864 London Rev. 23 Jan. 84/2 The great difficulty among the schoolmen is to reconcile the two extreme systems; which may be said to culminate in Eton football on the one hand, and in the Rugby football on the other.
1905 C. H. Malden Recoll. Eton Colleger v. 118 Many Old Etonians..would give a great deal for a good game of Eton football under the shade of the Wall in College Field, or even in the bleak expanse of the newly-acquired Agar's Plough.
1953 B. J. W. Hill Hist. Eton Coll. iv. 53 The chief sport in the Christmas half is Eton football, known as the Field Game.
2003 E. Dunning in E. Dunning & D. Malcolm Sport II. xxiii. 51 The first written rules of Eton football were laid down in 1849... Significantly, they embodied the first known absolute taboo on the use of hands.
6.
a. Eton and Oxford adj. designating a person educated at Eton College and Oxford University; having the perceived characteristics of such a person.
ΘΚΠ
society > society and the community > social class > nobility > aristocracy or upper class > [adjective] > relating to places associated with
Eton and Oxford1894
1824 R. Southey Let. 7 Oct. (1965) II. 268 He is an excellent scholar, thoroughly bred at Eton and at Oxford.]
1894 Mrs. H. Ward Marcella I. ii. iii. 271 The young Eton and Oxford athlete, just home for his Christmas vacation.
1931 P. G. Wodehouse If I were You iii. 38 He may be a bit Eton and Oxford, but he's working in your best interests.
1977 H. Moore Priest of Love (rev. ed.) iii. iv. 254 He was at this time an Eton-and-Oxford aesthete, with grandiose ideas.
2004 Australian (Nexis) 18 Nov. 16 Speaking with a plum in his mouth that marks him as the Eton and Oxford toff that he is.
b. Eton and Harrow adj. and n. (a) adj. characteristic of Eton College and Harrow School, or of English public schools or public school boys in general; (b) n. a sports match between Eton College and Harrow School.
ΚΠ
1915 J. Buchan Thirty-nine Steps i. 18 An elegant young man who talks Eton-and-Harrow English.
1952 R. A. Knox Hidden Stream xii. 110 It is possible to regard the Crusades as a kind of vast Eton-and-Harrow, in which both sides rallied to their respective ties by instinct, rather than by reasoned preference.
1962 ‘A. Gilbert’ No Dust in Attic xiv. 186 Every man for himself, none of the old Eton-and-Harrow spirit.
1978 R. B. Parker Judas Goat xi. 68 The broken nose and the scar tissue around the eyes somehow didn't go with the Eton and Harrow look.
2007 M. Rothwell Drunk in Charge of Foreign Lang. 139 ‘Excuse me chaps. Would you mind awfully shutting the fuck up?’ I say in my best Eton and Harrow accent.
7. Eton mess n. a dessert consisting of whipped cream, pieces of meringue, and fruit (typically strawberries), traditionally associated with Eton College.
ΘΚΠ
the world > food and drink > food > dishes and prepared food > confections or sweetmeats > [noun] > other confections or sweet dishes
pionade1302
spinee1381
pokerouncea1450
strawberry cream1523
pannag1540
alkermes1547
sugar-bread1587
snow1597
flammick1600
Norfolk fool1623
fool1653
chocolate cream1702
meringue1706
steeple cream1747
trifle1755
snowball1769
sweet bread1777
marrangle1809
meteor1820
mimpins1820
Nesselrode1835
meringué1845
Swiss cream1845
turban1846
coconut cream1847
panforte1865
yokan1875
bombe1892
Eton mess1896
meringue Chantilly1901
streusel1909
rocky road1920
ringocandy1922
stem ginger1922
dulce de leche1923
kissel1924
some-more1925
cream-crowdie1929
Pavlova cake1929
s'more1934
cranachan1946
sugar-on-snow1947
calavera1948
suji halwa1955
vacherin1960
zuppa inglese1961
brûlée1966
pav1966
delice1967
banoffi1974
macaroon1985
Nanaimo1991
macaron1993
1896 A. H. Beavan Marlborough House & its Occupants ix. 162 The following collation was served to the Royal party:..Glace Vanille et Framboise Cafè Glacé. Eton Mess aux Fraises.
1922 Times 17 June 9/6 A welcome change from the countless varieties of compôte and derivatives of the famous Eton Mess.
1965 Times 14 June 6/6 Retainers at the Carlton Club remind Conservative peers and M.P.s that ‘Eton mess’ is available. It turns out to be orthodox strawberries and cream.
1996 Observer 25 Aug. 10/8 I'd chosen something called Raspberry Eton Mess, just on the basis of its name.
2009 Boston Globe (Electronic ed.) 7 June Eton mess, which is said to have originated at Eton College in England, gives strawberries and whipped cream a textural twist by adding crumbled meringue.
II. Simple uses.† 9. Short for Eton collar n. at sense 2c. Obsolete.
8.
a. Short for Eton jacket n. at sense 2a Now rare.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > clothing for body or trunk (and limbs) > [noun] > jacket > short
roundabout1812
spencer1831
Eton jacket1850
Eton1885
bum-perisher1889
bum-shaver1889
perisher1889
bolero1892
bum-freezer1929
bum-starver1930
bum-freezer jacket1943
blouson1958
monkey jacket1968
Harrington1982
1885 T. H. Holding Coats 29 Never cut an Eton without trying it on.
1899 Westm. Gaz. 6 Jan. 3/2 The natty little Eton that in the South so often replaces the coat in the costume tailleur.
1900 Daily News 8 Sept. 6/3 Two-thirds of the smart dresses are now made with an Eton or bolero over a more or less ornamental front.
1957 Life 1 Apr. 120/1 All wool Eton about $16.
b. In plural. An Eton suit; (also) the Eton College uniform. Now historical.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > set or suit of clothes > [noun] > other
shiftc1570
under-suita1586
doublet and hose1603
siropa1671
frock-clothes1769
costume1797
poncho dress1811
tongs1845
Eton suit1859
sailor's suit1869
Prince Albert1873
Norfolk suit1880
sailor suit1880
ready-made1882
Etons1888
buster suit1903
Mallaby-Deeley1920
tiddly suit1943
utility1945
shell suit1973
Mao suit1993
gansey2009
1888 E. J. C. Baird My First School ii. 24 He..wore a suit of Etons, very shiny at the seams, and rather a tight fit.
1900 Captain 3 405/2 The spectacle of Jim in Fourth Form Etons would have been too entrancing a sight.
1918 C. Mackenzie Early Life Sylvia Scarlett i. ii. 68 Sylvia was wearing Etons at Monkley's suggestion.
2004 T. Storey in D. Keene et al. St. Paul's xxxvii. 408/2 Flannel suits replaced Etons on weekdays and ruffs replaced Eton collars [at St. Paul's Cathedral School].
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > neck-wear > [noun] > collar > types of > other
rabat1578
falling band1581
rebato1589
fall1598
piccadill1607
golilla1673
collarettea1685
banda1700
turn-over1716
Vandyke1755
falling-down collar1758
falling collar1770
fall-down?1796
yoke collar1817
rabatine1821
dicky1830
dog collar1852
Piccadilly collar1853
all-rounder1854
all round1855
turnover collara1861
Quaker collar1869
Eton collar1875
Toby collar1885
Eton1887
sailor collar1895
roll-neck1898
Shakespeare collar1907
polo collar1909
white-collar1910
tab collar1928
Peter Pan collar1948
tie-neck1968
1887 Army & Navy Stores Catal. 1095 Boys' Collars and Cuffs. The Eton.
1888 Punch 25 Aug. 85/1 A White Eton is a sort of neckgirdler of shirtcloth, may it please ye.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2014; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1663