Camlet

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A stiff, durable fabric historically woven from camel hair or wool, often used for garments and furnishings
2. A crisp woven material traditionally made from camel hair or wool fibers, valued for its strength and durability
3. A rigid fabric composed of camel hair or wool that was commonly employed for clothing and household textiles

Etymology: Camlet is a fabric whose name arrived from the Arabic word for velvet, though the cloth itself was anything but velvet. The Arabic "ḵamla" gave rise to a Old French word "chamelot", with the diminutive ending "-ot" added, and English took it up in Middle English as "chamelet" and "chamlot". The name followed a path through French and Arabic trade before settling into English. The fabric that bore the name was typically a fine, luxurious textile, and the connection to velvet points to the cloth's prized status rather than its texture. Early camlets were woven from materials such as silk or goat's hair, so the word describes a family of fabrics that shared a reputation for quality rather than a single shared construction.

Synonyms: camel, fabric