crinoline: [19] The reason crinolines are called crinolines is that they were originally made from a stiff fabric woven from horsehair and linen thread. Italian crino ‘horsehair’ (from Latin crīnus ‘hair’, a possible relative of English crest) and lino ‘flax’ (from Latin līnum, source of English linen) were combined to produce crinolino, which passed into English via French crinoline. => crest, linen
crinoline (n.)
1830, from French crinoline "hair cloth" (19c.), from Italian crinolino, from crino "horsehair" (from Latin crinis "hair") + lino "flax, thread," from Latin linum (see linen). So called from the warp and woof fibers of the original mixture.
