Silesia

Si·le·sia  (s-lzh, -sh, s-)

A region of central Europe primarily in southwest Poland and northern Czech Republic. Settled by Slavic peoples c. a.d. 500, the region was long contested by various states and principalities. After World War I Silesia was partitioned among Germany, Poland, and Czechoslovakia. Much of the Czechoslovakian section passed to Germany and Poland after the signing of the Munich Pact in 1938. Germany occupied Polish Silesia from 1939 to 1945, and after World War II Poland annexed most of German Silesia. Upper Silesia, in southern Poland, is an important industrialized area.

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Si·lesian adj. & n.

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si·le·sia  (s-lzh, -sh, s-)

n.

A sturdy twilled cotton fabric used for linings and pockets.

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[After Silesia.]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	Silesia - a region of central Europe rich in deposits of coal and iron ore; annexed by Prussia in 1742 but now largely in Poland Schlesien, Slask, Slezsko Europe - the 2nd smallest continent (actually a vast peninsula of Eurasia); the British use `Europe' to refer to all of the continent except the British Isles
	2.	silesia - a sturdy twill-weave cotton fabric; used for pockets and linings cloth, fabric, textile, material - artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers; "the fabric in the curtains was light and semitransparent"; "woven cloth originated in Mesopotamia around 5000 BC"; "she measured off enough material for a dress"