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Origin and history of frippery

frippery(n.)

1560s, "old clothes, cast-off garments," from French friperie "old clothes, an old clothes shop," from Old French freperie, feuperie "old rags, rubbish, old clothes" (13c.), from frepe, feupe "fringe; rags, old clothes," from Late Latin faluppa "chip, splinter, straw, fiber." The notion is of "things worn down, clothes rubbed to rags." The ironic meaning "finery" (but with overtones of tawdriness) dates from 1630s.

also from 1560s

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bagatelle
1630s, "a trifle, thing of no importance," from French bagatelle "knick-knack, bauble, trinket" (16c.), from Italian bagatella "a trifle," which is perhaps a diminutive of Latin baca "berry," or from one of the continental words (such as Old French bague "bundle") from the same s
fluff
"light, feathery stuff," 1790, apparently a variant of floow "wooly substance, down, nap" (1580s), perhaps from Flemish vluwe, from French velu "shaggy, hairy," from Latin vellus "fleece," or Latin villus "tuft of hair" (see velvet). OED suggests fluff as "an imitative modificati
filter
early 15c., "piece of felt through which liquid is strained," from Old French feutre "felt, felt hat, carpet" (Modern French filtre) and directly from Medieval Latin filtrum "felt" (used to strain impurities from liquid), from West Germanic *filtiz (from PIE root *pel- (5) "to th
trivia
"trivialities, bits of information of little consequence," by 1932, from the title of a popular book by U.S.-born British aphorist Logan Pearsall Smith (1865-1946) first published in 1902 but popularized in 1918 (with "More Trivia" following in 1921 and a collected edition includ
obey
c. 1300, obeien, "carry out the commands of (someone); submit to (a command, rule, etc.); be ruled by," from Old French obeir "obey, be obedient, do one's duty" (12c.), from Latin obedire, oboedire "obey, be subject, serve; pay attention to, give ear," literally "listen to," from
colonel
"chief commander of a regiment of troops," 1540s, coronell, from French coronel (16c.), modified by dissimilation from Italian colonnella "commander of the column of soldiers at the head of a regiment," from compagna colonella "little column company," from Latin columna "pillar,"
inspiration
c. 1300, "immediate influence of God or a god," especially that under which the holy books were written, from Old French inspiracion "inhaling, breathing in; inspiration" (13c.), from Late Latin inspirationem (nominative inspiratio), noun of action from past-participle stem of La
parameter
1650s in geometry, in reference to conic sections, from Modern Latin parameter (1630s), from Greek para- "beside, subsidiary" (see para- (1)) + metron "measure" (from PIE root *me- (2) "to measure"). A geometry term until late 1920s when it began to be extended to "measurable fac
Abyssinia
old name for Ethiopia, 1630s, from Modern Latin Abyssinia, from Arabic Habasah, the name for the region, said to be from Amharic hbsh "mixed" or Arabic habash "mixture," in reference to the different races dwelling there. In 1920s-30s popular as a slang pun for the parting saluta
missionary
"one who is sent on a mission, person sent by ecclesiastical authority to labor for the propagation of the faith in a place where it has no indigenous organization," 1650s, from missionary (adj.). The phrase missionary position for "sexual intercourse arrangement in which the cou

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