Etymograph

English

chambray

Chambray comes from French cambrer ‘cambric’.

  1. Frenchc. 1600–presentcambrer1as cambrai‘cambric’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1793chambray1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English chambray
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1793, Jane Austen: “She lies wrapped in a book muslin bedgown, a…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Frenchc. 1600–presentcambrerWiktionary, English chambrayas cambrai‘cambric’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1793chambrayWiktionary, English chambray. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1793, Jane Austen: “She lies wrapped in a book muslin bedgown, a…”

The story

From French cambrai (‘cambric’), and its source, Cambrai, the city in France where it originated; probably with alteration after chamber.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kh₂em- ‘to bend, to curve’

campaign, campus, champion, kemp, chimney, kam, champaign, skimp, gam, cantonment, jamb, campanile, campagna, gamba, 19 more

through Ancient Greek καμάρα ‘anything with an arched cover such as a…’

bicameral, 6 more

through Latin camera ‘a room, especially a vaulted room, a vault’

camera, cabaret, camaraderie, 10 more

through Latin camur ‘curved, bent, crooked’

camber

Today it means

noun A soft fabric woven with a white weft and coloured warp.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “chambray”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / French cambrer / chambray

Shirt and support for this word