poulaine

English

From Anglo-Norman poleine (“(shoe with a) pointed toe”) and Middle French poulaine (“(shoe with a) pointed toe”), apparently from Old French poulain (“Polish”) (compare crackow), the style being supposed to be Polish. Possibly related to poleyn (“knee armor”).^[1]

poulaine (plural poulaines) (historical)

A long, pointed toe of a shoe, a style fashionable in the 14th and 15th centuries.
A shoe in such a style.
Rare form of poleyn (“knee armor”).
- For quotations using this term, see Citations:poulaine.

crackow

^ Tara Hamling, Catherine Richardson, Everyday Objects: Medieval and Early Modern Material Culture and its Meanings, Routledge (2016, →ISBN): The OED derives the later English use of the noun 'poulaine' from AngloNorman: 'poleine (1464–9 or earlier ...) and Middle French, French (now hist.) poulaine ... use as noun of feminine of poulain (adjective) Polish ... the shoes and thir characteristic long toe being so called on account of their supposed Polish origin ..., OED Online […] The MED records English variants on the word from about 1388, but applied to a piece of armour, 'protecting the knee and fastened to the thigh piece', which probably stems from Old French usage, 'polein(e), n.2', MED, […]

Originally in the phrase souliers à la poulaine (“shoes in the Polish style”), from the feminine form of Middle French poulain (“Polish”). See Polonais.

poulaine f (plural poulaines)