Re-entry

At last, I'm back. Much has happened in the text/textile world of text, textile, exile in the last year and a half, and i have finally retrieved my password so i can reconnect with this site. For now, I'll just post a very brief etymological chain of the word "lace:" lace (n.) early 13c., "cord made of braided or interwoven strands of silk, etc.," from O.Fr. las "a net, noose, string" (Fr. lacs), from V.L. *lacium, from L. laqueum (nom. laqueus) "noose, snare" (It. laccio, Sp. lazo), a trapping and hunting term, probably from Italic base *laq- "to ensnare" (cf. L. lacere "to entice"). Later also "net, noose, snare" (c.1300); "piece of cord used to draw together the edges of slits or openings in an article of clothing" (late 14c.). The "ornamental net pattern" meaning is first recorded 1550s. Sense of "cord for tying" remains in shoelace. As an adjective, lace-curtain "middle class" (or lower-class with middle-class pretensions) usually is used in reference to Irish-Americans. lace (v.) c.1200, "fasten (clothing, etc.) with laces and ties;" see lace (n.). Also "tighten (a garment) by pulling its laces" (early 14c.). To lace coffee, etc., with a dash of liquor (1670s) was originally used of sugar, and comes via the notion of "to ornament or trim." Related: Laced; lacing. Laced mutton was "an old word for a whore" [Johnson].