Word of the Week – Chiffon

In The Island Bikeshop, my heroine is a bookish woman, Lara, who loves random word facts (we see a hint of this in book 2, The Island Bakeshop, before she takes center stage in this book 3). At one point in the story, she and the hero, Asher, are making pasta, and the recipe calls for fresh basil, chiffonaded. Asher accuses her of making up words and says it sounds like a frou-frou fabric…so naturally Lara (borrowing from me, here), makes a note to look up how the two words are related.

So naturally, I had to do that too. 😉

Because what does chiffonade (shredded or finely cut vegetables or herbs used as a garnish) have to do with chiffon, that light-and-airy fabric popular in dresses?

Well, chiffon joined english in 1765, not as a kind of cloth, but as a word that basically meant “accessory”–it was used to describe feminine finery that was worn purely for adornment. It came from the French (no surprise when you hear the word), which was itself a diminutive of the word chiffe, which meant “cloth or rag.” So…think “frippery” here. Scarves or ruffles or the like.

By 1890, chiffon had veered off from any such accessory or cloth and was used exclusively for the sheer, silky fabric we associate with the word today.

So what about chiffonade? Well, it is indeed related to chiffon, and is used to describe the “light and airy” look of those finely chopped herbs used as a garnish. Its first use is from the 1820s. Chiffon also became a term for light pastries in the late 1920s.

Word Nerds Merch!