Tweed

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /twiːd/

Definitions

1. A distinct fabric known for its rough texture and intricate patterns, commonly created from wool and used for making outer garments and accessories
2. This is a rugged textile, typically made from wool, featuring a variety of patterns like herringbone, favored in classic British fashion
3. A textured wool fabric characterized by its complex patterns, often employed in the production of coats and traditional attire

Etymology: The most famous explanation for "tweed" is a mistake. Scottish tradition holds that an English merchant, reading an 1831 letter from a Scottish supplier that mentioned "tweels" (cloth), misread the word as "Tweed," the name of the River Tweed on the Scottish Borders, and marketed the fabric under that name. Scholars of Scots doubt the story, since English traders would already have known "tweel" well before the 1830s. The more probable source is "tweedle" in Scots, attested from the 16th century and used for a type of twilled cloth. The Scots forms "tweel" and "tweeling" trace back to Middle English "twel" and "twyle," which also gave English "twill." So "tweed" is most likely a shortening or back-formation of "tweedling," tied to the same family as "twill." The word appears in English print from the 1830s, and the earliest citations from 1839, 1841 and 1845 present it as a new name for a cloth people already knew, rather than as a newly invented fabric.

Synonyms: fabric, textile, material