Dictionary

reticule en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈɹɛtɪkjuːl/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From French réticule, from Latin rēticulum, diminutive of rēte (“net”). Doublet of reticle, reticulum, and Reticulum.

Meanings

1. A reticle; a grid in the eyepiece of an instrument.
   • [H]er hair had been used to create the reticule in the famous Norden bombsight—a top-secret WWII targeting device. 2017, Eric Grundhauser, The Legend of WWII’s Bombsight Rapunzel:
2. A small women's bag made of a woven net-like material.
   • Miss Pross, exploring the depths of her reticule through her tears with great difficulty, paid for her wine. 1859, Charles Dickens, “Book 3, Chapter 8”, in A Tale of Two Cities, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC:
   • When reading the note, and arriving at an assurance of Helen's absence, Lady Anne had indignantly crushed it in her hand, and thrust it into her reticule, but, on her return home, whilst Fanchette was industriously employed upon her hair with the invaluable liquid dye, she drew out the rumpled paper, and read the concluding paragraph. 1842, [anonymous collaborator of Letitia Elizabeth Landon], chapter XXXVIII, in Lady Anne Granard; or, Keeping up Appearances. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 183:
   • Eleanor wore a green silk dress to bring out here eyes, with an ivory tatted collar and reticule to match. 1993, TC Boyle, The Road to Wellville, Penguin, published 1994, page 150:
   • Major Arthur Pendennis, arrived in due time at Fairoaks, after a dreary night passed in the mail-coach, … where a widow lady, opposite, had not only shut out the fresh air by closing all the windows of the vehicle, but had filled the interior with fumes of Jamaica rum and water, which she sucked perpetually from a bottle in her reticule […] 1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 7, in The History of Pendennis. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850, →OCLC:
   • Pléiade […] lingered through another bottle of wine before producing from her reticule a Vacheron & Constantin watch […]. 2006, Thomas Pynchon, Against the Day, Vintage, published 2007, page 606:
   • She carries some small litter in a reticule which she calls her documents, principally consisting of paper matches and dry lavender. 1852 March – 1853 September, Charles Dickens, chapter 1, in Bleak House, London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1853, →OCLC:

Forms

Deriveds

reticuled · reticulated · reticulation

Relateds

handbag · mesh · reticulum · netted · satchel · crosshair · purse

Translations (5)

fi verkkokassi (bag made of net-like material) · pl mała ozdobna torebka damska (bag made of net-like material) · fr réticule (bag made of net-like material) · bg плетена чанта (bag made of net-like material) · nl reticuul (bag made of net-like material)