chambrayn.adj.

Etymology: Probably < French cambrai (noun) cambric (1566 in Middle French; now rare; the more usual word in current usage is cambrésine : see cambresine n.) or its etymon Cambrai (see cambric n.), probably with alteration by folk-etymological association with chamber n.; forms with initial ch- appear to be unparalleled in modern French, but compare Old French chambli cambric (1316), and also Middle French Chambray (first half of the 15th cent. or earlier), regional (Central) variant of Cambrai , Cambray (see cambric n.). Perhaps compare (all in sense ‘cambric’) Middle Low German kāmerdōk , German Kammertuch (late 16th cent. as cammertuch ), Kammerleinwand (end of the 16th cent. as kamerleinwat ), literally ‘chamber cloth’ and ‘chamber linen’ respectively; German Kammertuch is usually considered a calque on Dutch kamerdoek in the same sense, although the latter is apparently first attested later (late 17th cent.; probably shortened < kamerijksdoek (1633 or earlier as Camericx doek : see cambric n.)).