gussetn.
/ˈɡʌsɪt/, U.S. /ˈɡəsət/ 1. In a suit of mail, a piece of flexible material introduced to fill up a space at the joints between two adjacent pieces of mail.
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society > armed hostility > military equipment > armour > [noun] > suit of armour > flexible material to fill joints
gusset1488
1488 (c1478) Hary Actis & Deidis Schir William Wallace (Adv.) (1968–9) ii. l. 63 A rycht straik Wallas him gat that tyd. In at the guschet brymly he him bar.
1497 Will of John Sympson (P.R.O.: PROB. 11/11) f. 95v A paire of gussettes a folde & a Standard of Mayle.
1500 in W. H. Stevenson Rec. Borough Nottingham (1885) III. 72 i jak, i peyr de gossettes.
1513 Lydgate's Troye Bk. (Pynson) iii. xxii. N ij b A payre gussettes on a pety cote.
1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 1st Bk. Wks. xlii. 137 The gussets of his armour under the arm-pits.
1824 S. R. Meyrick Crit. Inq. into Antient Armour II. 104 Instead of gussets to protect the armpits, circular plates are attached by points which are tied at their centre.
1869 C. Boutell tr. J. P. Lacombe Arms & Armour x. 197 Goussets of mail were worn at the joints.
2.
a. A triangular piece of material let into a garment to strengthen or to enlarge some part, esp. in order to afford ease in movement. †scent of gusset: smell of the armpits.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > parts of clothing > [noun] > inserted piece of fabric > types of
gorec1325
gusset?1577
slashing1842
mitre1882
empiecement1886
interlude1890
godet1923
?1577 F. T. Debate Pride & Lowlines sig. Cvii The woman and the wenche were clad in russet..worne so very neere: That ye might see cleane through both sleeue & gusset The naked skinne.
1580 C. Hollyband Treasurie French Tong Gousset..d'vne chemise,..the gusset of a shirte.
a1685 M. Evelyn Mundus Muliebris (1690) 9 Essence rare..to repel, When Scent of Gousset does rebel.
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory i. 108/2 Gusset, a thing belonging to a Shirt or Shift.
1723 London Gaz. No. 6150/3 A white great Coat,..with two Gussits in the Shoulder-Seam.
1843 T. Hood Song of Shirt iii Seam, and gusset, and band, Band, and gusset, and seam.
1878 Lady Herbert tr. J. A. von Hübner Ramble round World II. vi. 350 The gussets of his waistcoat.
1880 L. S. Floyer Plain Hints Examiners Needlework 63 The neck gusset of a gentleman's shirt is sometimes made the shape of an isosceles triangle.
b. The ‘clock’ of a stocking. Scottish.
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1724 A. Ramsay Generous Gentleman ii Silken hose with gooshets fine.
1817 Lintoun Green in R. Brown Comic Poems 12 He'd flame-like gushets, to his thighs Half up, on stockings blue.
c. plural. The flexible sides of a pair of bellows.
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1861 Our Eng. Home 130 The gussets [of bellows in the 16th cent.] fastened with trefoil bullion-headed nails, were made of scarlet velvet.
d. An elastic insertion in the side of a boot.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > footwear > parts of footwear > [noun] > elastic sides of boots
spring1834
side spring1844
gusset1881
boot-gusset1882
1881 Daily News 17 Jan. 3/3 The inquiry for gussets shows no improvement.
3. transferred. A triangular piece of land.
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the world > the earth > land > tract > [noun] > triangle
haleOE
nookc1450
cantle1524
gusset1650
heater-piece1859
1650 T. Fuller Pisgah-sight of Palestine i. xi. 34 Which gore, or gusset of ground, was called Apherema, that is, a thing taken away, because parted from Samaria, and pieced to Judea.
1667 in N. Mitchell Hist. Bridgewater (Mass.) (1840) 69 A piece of common land between the lots in form like a gussett.]
1825 J. Jamieson Etymol. Dict. Sc. Lang. Suppl. at Guschet A guschet o' land, a narrow intervening stripe; a small triangular piece of land, interposed between two other properties.
1871 W. Alexander Johnny Gibb xlii. 295 A gushetie o' finer lan' there is not upo' the place.]
4. Heraldry. An abatement formed by a line drawn from the dexter or sinister chief to a central point from which the line is continued perpendicularly to the base of the escutcheon. (Cf. gore n.2 4.)
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society > communication > indication > insignia > heraldic devices collective > charge: device on shield > [noun] > abatement or mark of dishonour > types of
delfc1500
gore1562
gusset1562
point in point1562
diminution1610
1562 G. Legh Accedens of Armory (1597) 72 b Hee beareth Argent, two Gussets Sable..If he be too letcherous, the Gusset on the right side: If he commit Idolatrie to Bacchus, then the gusset on the left side.
1610 J. Guillim Display of Heraldrie i. viii. 45 That Abatement that comprehendeth onely two points of the Escocheon is called a Gusset.
1661 S. Morgan Sphere of Gentry ii. vii. 78 The gusset was proper for Reuben.
5. technical. A ‘bracket’ or angular piece of iron fixed at the angles of a structure to give strength or firmness.
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the world > space > relative position > support > [noun] > that which supports > angle-bracket
bracket1627
fid1644
angle bracket1733
crank1769
angle bar1793
gusset18..
angle iron1819
angle plate1850
18.. W. Fairbairn in Ure Dict. Arts (1853) I. 213 Gussets, when used, should be placed in lines diverging from the centre of the boilers, and made as long as the position of the flues and other circumstances in the construction will admit.
1879 W. H. White in Cassell's Techn. Educator IV. 363/2 The principal transverse frames are made up of ‘gusset’ or ‘bracket’-plates instead of plates lightened by holes.
Compounds
C1.
gusset-armour n.
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1653 T. Urquhart tr. F. Rabelais 2nd Bk. Wks. xxvii. 173 Gushet-armour for the armpits.
C2.
gusset needle n. Knitting one of the two side needles used in knitting the foot of a stocking.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > textile manufacture > manufacture textile fabric or that which consists of > manufacture of textile fabric > [noun] > knitting > needle > types of
gusset needle1885
1885 Bazaar, Exchange & Mart 30 Mar. 332/1 When the left hand side gusset needle is reached knit the eighteen stitches that were picked up from the side.
gusset-plate n. (also gusset bracket-plate) = sense 5.
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society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > [noun] > plating > bracket or gusset
gusset-plate1869
gusset stay1887
1869 E. J. Reed Shipbuilding i. 13 All that was done to her was to refasten the gusset bracket-plates at her beam ends.
1883 Philol. Soc. Trans. Monthly Abstr. 21 Dec. iii. iv Gusset-plate, in girder-work, from gusset in needlework.
gusset stay n. = gusset-plate n.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > travel by water > vessel, ship, or boat > parts of vessels > body of vessel > [noun] > plating > bracket or gusset
gusset-plate1869
gusset stay1887
1887 D. A. Low Introd. Machine Drawing (1892) 12 One form of boiler stay, called a ‘gusset stay’... The stay or gusset plate is ¾ of an inch thick.
Derivatives
ˈgusseted adj. having a gusset or gussets.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > types or styles of clothing > [adjective] > having specific parts > inserted pieces of material
gusseted1883
godet1896
1883 Washington Evening Star 31 Oct. 3/6 The gusseted feet [of stockings] in colors.
ˈgusseting n. insertion or making of gussets; also concrete, a gusset.
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the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > tailoring or making clothes > [noun] > carrying out specific processes > other
tuckingc1440
sleeving1495
stenting1507
welting1508
furring1554
poignetting1555
bombasing1598
flouncing1766
fulling1810
goring1814
piping1825
slashing1834
collaring1865
gusseting1883
overtrimming1897
post-boarding1952
1883 Daily News 24 Sept. 2/6 Gussettings are as much neglected as ever; and only a revolution in fashion in the character of boots worn can effect any substantial revival.
1888 W. Besant Fifty Years Ago vi. 91 Everybody knew that every girl in the place was always making, mending, cutting-out, basting, gusseting, trimming, turning, and contriving.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1900; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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