Definition of "mantua" [man•tu•a]

• A woman's garment of the 17th and 18th centuries consisting of a bodice and full skirt cut from a single length of fabric, with the skirt designed to part in front to reveal a contrasting underskirt. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Her gown, a plain English mantua-silk, manufactured in Spitalfields; her petticoat the same; her binding, a piece of chequered-stuff, made at"
• "Nah, it's a "mantua", notice the seam lines all the way down the front."
• "Venetian "mantua," -- a sort of cloak which was just then returning into fashion."