“ The word is derived from the Latin mantellum or mantelum, a cloak, and is probably the same as, or another form of, mantelium or mantele, a table-napkin or table-cloth, from manus, hand, and tela, a cloth. ”

“ The modern French form manteau is used in English chiefly as a dressmaker’s term for a woman’s mantle. “Mantua,” much used in the 18th century for a similar garment, is probably a corruption of manteau, due to silk or other materials coming from the Italian town of that name, and known by the trade name of “mantuas.” The Spanish mantilla is a covering for the head and shoulders of white or black lace or other material, the characteristic head-dress of women in southern and central Spain. ”