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Battenberg lace

noun
variants: or Battenburg lace

Definition of Battenberg lace

: renaissance lace

History and Etymology for Battenberg lace

probably after the Battenberg family, a morganatic branch of the ducal house of Hesse-Darmstadt, members of whom established careers in Britain or married into the British royal family (after Battenberg, a town in Hesse, Germany)

Note: In early occurrences as “Royal Battenberg lace” (e.g., Good Housekeeping, vol. 11, no. 13, October 25, 1890, p. 301; Atlantic Monthly, vol. 68, no. 405, July, 1891, p. 85). Evidence that the lace has any real connection with the Battenberg family is lacking, suggesting that the word was chosen solely for its connotations.

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