mantilla

name

1. A surname.

noun

Etymology: Borrowed from Spanish mantilla (“large veil; small cape”), from manta (“blanket, cloth, cloth banner”) + -illa (diminutive).

1. A lace veil of Spanish origin worn over a woman's hair and shoulders.

   “[M]y eyes were oft times [on the] charmante maitresse de la maison, who glided among her guests in her flowing Spanish mantilla, and train of the clearest blonde, doing her devoirs with winning kindness, and showing how much benevolence of manner adds to beauty.”

   “Still the mantilla preserved its sway; it had taken a fast hold of the affections of all classes of the feminine gender; and there is now as much chance of driving roast-beef from our shores as there is of transporting black mantillas. […] no squire's lady, no duke's duchess, no countess, and no queen, can or need, in these days of mantillas, be without one of these coverlids for the shoulders, these hiders of all deformities, and these friends to all ages and proportions. For there are mantillas from seven shillings to seven pounds,—of all sizes and shapes, with or without fringe, lace, tassels, and other ornaments.”

2. A woman's light cloak or cape made of silk, velvet, lace, or other material.

   “The Duchess of Alba wrapped herself in a mantilla coat, asked her guest to take a chair in the middle of the patio and placed herself three steps behind him in the shade of a magnolia.”