Definition

1. Noun:
   • A coarse, strong fabric made from jute or hemp: "Hessian" primarily refers to a type of durable, woven cloth, often light brown in color, used for sacks, bags, and in crafts.
   • (Historical) A soldier from Hesse, Germany: Historically, "Hessian" refers to a German mercenary soldier who fought for the British during the American Revolutionary War.
   • (19th-century fashion) A man's high tasseled boot: In 19th-century fashion, a "Hessian" was a style of tall boot, often decorated with a tassel at the top.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Fabric):
  • The gardener used a roll of hessian to protect the young trees from frost.
  • She bought some natural hessian to make rustic table decorations.
• Noun (Historical Soldier):
  • The British forces employed thousands of Hessians during the war.
• Noun (Boot):
  • The gentleman's outfit was completed with a pair of polished Hessians.

Advanced Usage

• "Hessian sack": a bag made from hessian fabric.
  • The potatoes were stored in a large hessian sack.
• "Hessian matrix": (Mathematics) a square matrix of second-order partial derivatives of a scalar-valued function. (Note: This is a specialized term named after mathematician Ludwig Otto Hesse, not directly from the common noun).
  • The Hessian matrix is used in optimization problems to determine local minima and maxima.

Variants and Related Words

• Burlap (n): (chiefly North American) a synonym for hessian fabric.
  • The burlap sack was rough to the touch.
• Gunny (n): another term for coarse sacking material, similar to hessian.

Synonyms

• For fabric: Burlap, sacking, jute cloth.
• For soldier: Mercenary (in the specific historical context).
• For boot: (Historical) Top boot, riding boot.

Related Phrases

• Hessian fly: (Entomology) a small fly () that is a destructive pest of wheat.
  • The farmer was concerned about an infestation of Hessian fly.

Related Idioms

• None commonly associated with the base word "hessian."

Noun

1. (19th century) a man's high tasseled boot