Băt'ist, n.

n. [Fr. batiste, O. Fr. baptiste, toile baptiste, from Lat. baptista, Gr. βαπτιστής, a baptizer, either from the pretended inventor, Baptiste Chambray, a linen weaver in Flanders, in the thirteenth century, or because this fine linen was used to wipe the heads of the young children that had just received baptism.] A fine linen cloth made in certain parts of France. Simmonds.