Also 3 trusseau. [F. (13th c.), dim. f. trousse TRUSS sb.; cf. TRUSSELL.]
1. † a. A bundle; cf. TRUSSELL 1. Obs. b. A bunch of keys, rare. (perhaps only as Fr.)
a. 1225. Ancr. R., 163. Noble men & gentile ne bereð nout packes, ne ne uareð nout itrussed mid trusseaus [v.r. trusses], ne mid purses…. Trusseaus, & purses, baggen, & packes beoð alle eorðliche weolen, & worldliche renten.
1847. De Quincey, Sp. Mil. Nun, § 5. There lay the total keys, in one massive trousseau, of that monastic fortress, impregnable even to armies from without.
2. A bride’s outfit of clothes, house-linen, etc. Also attrib.
[1817. Lady Morgan, France, I. (1818), I. 27. An armoire … held the bridal wardrobe, or rustic trousseau.]
1821. Pittsfield Sun, 2 May, 2/3. A girl aged 25,… wishes to find a husband in the working class—she has no fortune, but a very handsome trousseau, and some ready money.
1833. T. Hook, Widow & Marquess, iv. The trousseau is ready, and the day fixed.
1855. Mrs. Gaskell, North & S., i. I have spared no expense in her trousseau.
1880. ‘Ouida,’ Moths, III. 293. Claire has got the coffer for her doll’s trousseau.
1896. Westm. Gaz., 28 March, 3/2. I have just seen some of the trousseau gowns of a much-talked-of April bride-elect.
