Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Partlet \Part"let\, n. [Dim. of part.]
   1. A covering for the neck, and sometimes for the shoulders
      and breast; originally worn by both sexes, but laterby
      women alone; a ruff. [Obs.] --Fuller.

   2. A hen; -- so called from the ruffing of her neck feathers.
      ``Dame Partlett, the hen.'' --Shak.