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Etymologists are clear on the source of the word jalousie—it's French for "jealousy"—but the relationship between the emotion and the window treatments originally referred to as jalousies is not something they've speculated much about. Is it that those peering out through the original jalousie blinds were jealous of the people outside? Or is it more likely that the jealousy festered in the hearts of those outside, who could see the blinds but not the faces and lives of the people they hid? This excerpt from the October 23, 1766 entry in the Duchess of Northumberland's diary perhaps provides a clue: "Rows of Seats with Jalousies in Front that [the women] may not be seen."

Examples of jalousie in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Caldwell would be found dead in the back of the house at 1:10 a.m. Dec. 6, according to records, about 4 feet from where two police officers tried in vain to break a jalousie window. — Lisa J. Huriash, sun-sentinel.com, 15 Dec. 2020 But beneath the plywood was a jalousie within a metal frame, a type of window that has a row of slats. — Lisa J. Huriash, sun-sentinel.com, 15 Dec. 2020

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'jalousie.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.