samite means A material of rich silk, sometimes with gold threads, especially prized during the Middle Ages. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 88 out of 100.
samite is pronounced /ˈsæmaɪt/.
Why “samite” is a great word
A rich, heavy silk fabric, often interwoven with gold or silver threads, used in the Middle Ages for ceremonial garments. Its name descends from the Byzantine Greek *hexámiton*, a compound of *hex* ("six") and *mitos* ("thread"), denoting a weave of six threads. Unlike damask, with its reversible, figured pattern, or taffeta, with its crisp, utilitarian rustle, samite is defined by its material opulence and solemn weight. It is the cold, metallic shimmer of a king's funeral pall, the stiff, luminous fall of an archangel's robe, and the whispered wealth of a relic in a cathedral treasury—the woven evidence of a world that believed splendor could be made solid and worn against the skin.
Etymology
From Middle English samite, from Old French samit, from Medieval Latin samitum, examitum, from Byzantine Greek ἑξάμιτον (hexámiton), from ἕξ (héx, “six”) + μίτος (mítos, “thread”).
noun
- A material of rich silk, sometimes with gold threads, especially prized during the Middle Ages.“[A] robe / Of samite without price, that more exprest / Than hid her, clung about her lissome limbs, / In colour like the satin-shining palm / On sallows in the windy gleams of March: [...]”