tinsel: [16] Tinsel is etymologically something that ‘sparkles’. Its ultimate source is Latin scintilla ‘spark’, which has also given English scintillate [17]. This was altered in the postclassical period to *stincilla, which passed into Old French as estincele ‘spark’. From this was derived the adjective estincelé ‘sparkling’, which was applied particularly to fabric with metallic thread woven into it. English took this over as tinselle, originally an adjective but soon used as a noun. Its derogatory connotations of ‘gaudiness’ or ‘cheap glamour’ began to emerge in the 17th century. => scintillate, stencil[tinsel etymology, tinsel origin, 英语词源]