1750s in reference to fashions of dress, etc., among the French aristocracy, especially a women's hairstyle with the hair swept up over the forehead, in recognition of Jeanne-Antoinette Poisson, Marquise de Pompadour (1721-1764), mistress of Louis XV from 1745-50, who wore her hair in an upswept style rolled off from the forehead over a cushion. Her name also was used in her lifetime in reference to accessories, furniture, and a certain shade of crimson or pink. The estate of Pompadour is in the Limousin region. By 1887 in reference to a men's hairstyle.