Layette

Word of the Day for Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Layette \ley-ET\, noun:

an outfit of clothing, bedding, etc., for a newborn baby.

What I was knitting was a layette. A layette was a set of baby garments you were supposed to dress the newborn baby in so it would be warm when it was brought home from the hospital.
-- Margaret Atwood, Moral Disorder, 2006

At last, at last, thought Elizabeth with satisfaction as she snipped the thread and held up the tiny garment, which completed the layette she had hurriedly made as a gift for the Queen.
-- Alison Weir, The Lady Elizabeth, 2008

Layette entered English in the early 1800s. It comes from the Middle French word laiete meaning "small box."

Thanks to: www.dictionary.com