diaper [ME] In the USA babies wear diapers not nappies as in England. This is because the pads were originally made of diaper, a linen or cotton fabric woven in a repeating pattern of small diamonds. Napkins, towels, and cloths could also be diapers in Britain from the late 16th century, but napkin or nappy (see apron) came to predominate in babywear. Before the 15th century diaper appears to have been a costly fabric of silk woven with gold thread. The original elements of the word are Greek dia- ‘through, across’ and aspros ‘white’, the overall sense being either ‘white at intervals’ or ‘pure white’.