Glossary

Bloomers - Used as above in some cases here. Wide, loose under-trousers gathered at the knee and formerly worn by women and girls as an athletic costume. Girls’ underpants of similar design. Named after Amelia Jenks Bloomer (1818-1894), feminist reformer (USA)

Brasier (Brazier) - A metal receptacle holding burning coals for heating, often outdoors

Brussels sprouts - The small, cabbage-like heads of Brassica oleracea gemmifera, cooked and eaten as a vegetable.

Corselet - Sometimes spelt, corsellete. An old fashioned woman’s lightweight foundation garment comprising a brassiere and girdle combined in a single garment, sometimes incorporating suspenders.

Diaper - Nappy

Gymslip - A sleeveless tunic once worn by English school girls as part of their uniform. The USA Jumper definition is probably the best guide to what is meant here, though: A one-piece, sleeveless dress, or a skirt with straps and a complete or partial bodice, perhaps bib-like, usually worn over a blouse by women and children.

Jumper - See gymslip

Lyle - As in lyle stockings; thick old-fashioned cotton stockings, once worn by schoolgirls.

Knickers - (Here used fairly interchangeably with pants panty or panties or even, on occasion, bloomers) women’s underwear. British, informal. Women’s or girls’ short-legged underpants.

Napkin - An abbreviation for sanitary napkin, a pad of absorbent material, as cotton worn by women during menstruation to absorb the uterine flow

Pad - Panty liner, a more modern slim-line or low profile version of the old fashioned Sanitary napkin or towel.

Pants (Rather than trousers) - An abbreviation for panties, i.e. women’s underwear.

Parsonage - The official residence, sometimes known as a rectory, traditionally provided by the church or parish for a member of the clergy.

Ribbon - A scalloped edge Rayon, ribbon often used in the manufacture of the belt forming part of a nurse’s uniform in days gone by and particularly in Britain.

Skivvy - A female servant, particularly one charged with undertaking more menial tasks.

Slip - A petticoat: can hang from the waist, skirt-like (half-length), or be long-line (full-length) with shoulder straps.

Speculum - A speculum is a device designed to gently open up the vagina or anus for examination.

Tampon - A plug of absorbent material, typically inserted into the vagina during menstruation to absorb blood or secretions.

Tap or Taps - A Faucet or Faucets (USA)

Tor - A rocky peak or hill (usually a granite outcrop in the case of the moors of Devon and Cornwall such as Dartmoor or Exmoor).

Towel - An absorbent cloth or paper for wiping and drying something wet here used as an abbreviation for sanitary towel, British : sanitary napkin.

Wimple - A nun’s headdress