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plural mantuas
An article of loose clothing popular in 17th- and 18th century France. examples
(obsolete) A superior kind of rich silk formerly exported from Mantua in Italy. quotations
Anderson mentions black and coloured mantuas amongst other silks introduced here by the French immigrants of 1685. […] Mantuas are also included in a list of silks advertised for sale in the British Chronicle of 1763 […]
1882, S. William Beck, The Draper's Dictionary
(obsolete) A woman's cloak or mantle.
(obsolete) A woman's gown. quotations
Her dress was extremely elegant, but had an appearance of foreign fashion, as if both the lady and her mantua-maker were of 'a far countree’.
1818, Thomas Love Peacock, chapter 9, in Nightmare Abbey, Hookham, published 1818