partlet

noun

1. (archaic)A hen (originally in the form Dame Partlet).

   “How now, dame Partlett the hen?”

2. (archaic, historical)A covering for the neck and upper chest, originally worn by both sexes, but later especially by women to cover a low neckline.

   “On 1 February 1505, he ordered a new set of clothes for prince: an arming doublet of black satin, with fashionable detachable sleeves, and with it an arming partlet or under-collar […]”

   “A black witch known as Mother She was going along Front Street toward the store, a frail bent shape in black partlet with cane laboring brokenly through the heat.”