1. a covering for the neck and shoulders, especially a ruff or collar worn by women in the 16th and 17th centuries
Usage: archaic; historical
2. a hen, especially a domestic fowl
Usage: archaic; dialectal

Examples

• The portrait showed a Tudor lady wearing an elaborate partlet around her neck.
• Her white linen partlet was decorated with delicate embroidery.
• The museum’s costume collection includes several 16th-century partlets.
• In Shakespeare’s time, wealthy women often wore jeweled partlets.
• The farmer’s partlet laid fresh eggs every morning.
• Dame Partlet clucked loudly in the barnyard.