When you think “cozy fabric,” chances are good that flannel springs to mind. (Confession: I’m not the biggest flannel fan for anything but loungewear. *Hiding behind my hands…)
But did you know that flannel was originally…wait for it…sackcloth? As in, “sackcloth and ashes.” Nope, I didn’t know that either! Turns out the word is from the Middle English flanen that did indeed mean “sackcloth,” and by the 1300s was used for “warm, loosely woven wool fabric.” Historians trace that Middle English word to the Welsh gwlanen (“woolen cloth”) or perhaps the Celtic wlana (“wool”). Flannel was already a popular cloth in Wales by the 1500s, giving a bit of weight to that possible history, though some scholars think the sound-change too great and favor the Celtic history.
Regardless, an interesting tidbit is that unlike many English words that are borrowed from French, in this case the French flanelle was borrowed from English in the 1600s! About time we have some turnabout. 😉
Word Nerds Unite!
Read More Word of the Week Posts
Word Nerds Merch!
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. Having successfully launched two homeschool grads, she now spends her time writing fiction, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years, as well as a fantasy series and contemporary mysteries and romances. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary. 
