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Glite Dictionary
🔑 A waist chain 👩‍💼 A female manager
chatelaine

chatelaine

1 9.9
A chain worn at a woman's waist to carry small useful items like keys
  • noun
  • /ˈʃætəˌleɪn/
  • Archaic
translation icon : chatelaine
  • We are so glad I came across your website, The Chatelaine's Keys Blog Archive.

Examples

  • As he turned back to her, his gaze lit on the chatelaine at her waist.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • My father read only the Montreal Star, and my mother read the Reader's Digest and Chatelaine.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • I've just got to see about the chatelaine.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • In the 19th century, women often wore a chatelaine at their waist to keep their keys and other small items handy.

  • The ornate chatelaine she wore held her house keys and a small purse, a symbol of her status.

  • Adorned with charms, her chatelaine was both practical and fashionable, reflecting the style of the time.

Synonyms

chain
vschatelaine
55 1.5

A necklace made of small metal links worn around the neck

is worn at the waist to hold keys or small items rather than decorate

How Practical

chatelaine
  • Archaic
1 9.9
pendant
34 3.0

Surface Forms

chatelaine singular
chatelaines plural

Etymology

The word chatelaine for a chain comes from French châtelaine, the name for the woman who ran a château 'castle' or large house. Because she kept the household keys on a chain at her waist, the chain itself became called a chatelaine, so the object is named after the woman who wore it.