tweed

/twid/

/twid/

Other forms: tweeds

Tweed is a kind of speckled fabric made from woven wool. Used for jackets, suits, and coats, tweed is a rough, sturdy material.

Tweed was originally tweel, the Scots word for twill, a diagonally-patterned textile weave. In the 1830's the word was misread by a fabric merchant who assumed it came from the Scottish River Tweed, and the name stuck. Woven on looms, rough wool is transformed into tweed's tidy patterns, like herringbone and houndstooth. Most tweed is still made in Scotland for garments including suit jackets, skirts, and trousers, as well as blankets and scarves.

Definitions of tweed

1. noun

   thick woolen fabric used for clothing; originated in Scotland
   types:

   Harris Tweed

   a loosely woven tweed made in the Outer Hebrides

   type of:

   cloth, fabric, material, textile

   artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers
2. noun

   (usually in the plural) trousers made of flannel or gabardine or tweed or white cloth
   synonyms: flannel, gabardine, white

   type of:

   pant, trouser

   (usually in the plural) a garment extending from the waist to the knee or ankle, covering each leg separately