mantua-makingn.
/ˈmantjʊəˌmeɪkɪŋ/, /ˈmantʃʊəˌmeɪkɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈmæn(t)ʃəwəˈmeɪkɪŋ/ Now archaic and historical.
Originally: the making of mantuas. Later more generally: dressmaking.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > tailoring or making clothes > dressmaking > [noun]
mantua-makinga1704
dressmaking1796
manty-making1839
dressmakership1849
dressmakery1867
a1704 T. Brown Walk round London in 3rd Vol. Wks. (1708) iii. 41 That virtuous Profession Mantua-making.
1768 H. Brooke Fool of Quality III. xvi. 150 I must soon quit my mantua-making business.
1839 A. Langton Jrnl. (1950) 113 Afterwards mantua-making must have its turn.
1873 Appletons' Jrnl. 30 Aug. 277/1 Among the accounts..are large sums for ‘feeding the poor’, and of ‘alms distributed daily by the wayside’, mixed in with the items of mantua-making and small toilet wares.
1906 Jrnl. Polit. Econ. 14 619 They were also engaged in millinery, tailoring and mantua-making.
1992 J. Rule Albion's People (BNC) 111 Campbell's survey of London trades in 1747 lists only a handful of female crafts... Two of them, mantua-making and millinery, he explicitly linked with prostitution.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
mantua-makingadj.
/ˈmantjʊəˌmeɪkɪŋ/, /ˈmantʃʊəˌmeɪkɪŋ/, U.S. /ˈmæn(t)ʃəwəˈmeɪkɪŋ/ rare.
That engages in dressmaking.
ΘΚΠ
the world > textiles and clothing > clothing > tailoring or making clothes > dressmaking > [adjective]
mantua-making1824
1824 M. R. Mitford Our Village I. 287 The young mantua-making school-mistresses.
1827 T. Moore Ode to Ferdinand in Times 6 Feb. 2/5 After this, we'll try thy hand, Mantua-making Ferdinand.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2000; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.a1704adj.1824