camesa
Preserved but no longer current.
Shirt or chemise.—Span. See its abbreviated form, MISH, from the ancient Cant, COMMISSION. Probably re-introduced by the remains of De Lacy Evans’s Spanish Legion on their return. See Somerville’s account of the Span. Leg., for the curious facility with which the lower classes in England adopt foreign words as slang and cant terms. Italian, CAMICIA.
Era: ca. 1874 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Historical definition reproduced from Hotten’s The Slang Dictionary (1874, public domain; Project Gutenberg #42108, retrieved 2026-07-31). Reflects the attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “camesa” mean?
Shirt or chemise.—Span. See its abbreviated form, MISH, from the ancient Cant, COMMISSION. Probably re-introduced by the remains of De Lacy Evans’s Spanish Legion on their return. See Somerville’s account of the Span. Leg., for the curious facility with which the lower classes in England adopt foreign words as slang and cant terms. Italian, CAMICIA.
Is “camesa” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.