In modern usage, this is an undergarment something like a slip, but only waist-length. Usually made of a satiny material, but not always. May be worn as pajamas, under a blouse, in place of a blouse under a buttoned-up jacket, or paired with a half-slip.

Etymology: French, from the Provençal "camisolla", which was the diminutive of "camisa" ("shirt"), from the Late Latin "camisia".

Cam"i*sole (?), n. [F. See chemise.]

1.

A short dressing jacket for women.

2.

A kind of straitjacket.

© Webster 1913.