pouncet-box
English
Etymology
Compare French poncette.
Noun
pouncet-box (plural pouncet-boxes)
- (historical) A box with a perforated lid, used to contain pounce or perfume. Carrying one was a common custom among the upper classes in the 16th and 17th century.
- c. 1597 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Fourth, […]”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iii], lines 37-38:
- And 'twixt his finger and his thumb he held / A pouncet-box.
References
- “pouncet box”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
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