reticule

See also: réticule and réticulé

English

Embroidered reticule

Etymology

From French réticule, from Latin reticulum, diminutive of rēte (“net”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛtɪkjuːl/

• Audio (US)

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Noun

reticule (plural reticules)

1. A reticle; a grid in the eyepiece of an instrument. [from 18th c.]
   • 2017, Eric Grundhauser, The Legend of WWII’s Bombsight Rapunzel:

     [H]er hair had been used to create the reticule in the famous Norden bombsight—a top-secret WWII targeting device.

2. A small women's bag made of a woven net-like material. [from 19th c.]
   • 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXXVIII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 183:

     When reading the note, and arriving at an assurance of Helen's absence, Lady Anne had indignantly crushed it in her hand, and thrust it into her reticule, but, on her return home, whilst Fanchette was industriously employed upon her hair with the invaluable liquid dye, she drew out the rumpled paper, and read the concluding paragraph.

   • 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 7, in The History of Pendennis. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:

     Major Arthur Pendennis, arrived in due time at Fairoaks, after a dreary night passed in the mail-coach, … where a widow lady, opposite, had not only shut out the fresh air by closing all the windows of the vehicle, but had filled the interior with fumes of Jamaica rum and water, which she sucked perpetually from a bottle in her reticule […]

   • 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:

     She carries some small litter in a reticule which she calls her documents, principally consisting of paper matches and dry lavender.

   • 1859, Charles Dickens, “Book 3, Chapter 8”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:

     Miss Pross, exploring the depths of her reticule through her tears with great difficulty, paid for her wine.

   • 1993, TC Boyle, The Road to Wellville, Penguin, published 1994, page 150:

     Eleanor wore a green silk dress to bring out here eyes, with an ivory tatted collar and reticule to match.

   • 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 606:

     Pléiade […] lingered through another bottle of wine before producing from her reticule a Vacheron & Constantin watch […] .

Translations

reticle — see reticle

bag made of net-like material

• Bulgarian: плетена чанта (pletena čanta)
• Dutch: reticuul m
• Finnish: verkkokassi
• French: réticule (fr) m

Anagrams

• crueltie