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Windsor knot

Windsor knot

1 4.4
A wide, triangular knot for tying a tie that gives a formal look
  • noun
  • /ˈwɪndzər nɑt/
translation icon : nudo Windsor
  • He was wearing a dark jacket and tie with a perfect Windsor knot.
  • a half-Windsor knot
  • tie a Windsor knot

Examples

  • Kenny wore a blazer, his Oxford shirt stiff and sharp as if fresh from the package, the Windsor knot of his dark tie a perfect V tight against his throat.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Kenny wore a blazer, his Oxford shirt stiff and sharp as if fresh from the package, the Windsor knot of his dark tie a perfect V tight against his throat.

  • It's called the Windsor knot.

  • This shirt positively screams for a Windsor knot.

  • He was wearing a dark jacket and tie with a perfect Windsor knot.

    Fiction book (1995)
  • Phillip loosened the Windsor knot in his Fendi tie.

    Fiction book (1998)
  • Now if they could just learn how to tie a proper Windsor knot.

How Wide

Windsor knot
1 4.4

Surface Forms

Windsor knot singular
Windsor knots plural

Morphology

Windsor + knot

The compound is compositionally built: a B1 learner who knows 'Windsor' and 'knot' can infer it denotes a particular kind of knot associated with Windsor, so the basic category (a type of knot) is clear. However, the specific sense — that it is a wide, symmetrical necktie knot used for formal occasions — is conventional and not directly predictable from the constituents, so the transparency is partial.

Etymology

Windsor knot is named after the Duke of Windsor, who liked to wear a wide, neat knot in his tie. Tailors copied that look and called the big, triangle-shaped knot the 'Windsor', so today the name means a wide, formal knot for a necktie.