cloth
/klɒθ/ noun
Forms cloths clothes cloath clath clathe claith
- noun (countable, uncountable) A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes, woven fabric specifically.
- noun Specifically, a tablecloth, especially as spread before a meal or removed afterwards.
- noun (countable) A piece of cloth used for a particular purpose.
- noun (figurative) Substance or essence; the whole of something complex.
- noun (figurative) Appearance; seeming.
- noun A form of attire that represents a particular profession or status.
- noun (idiomatic, with definite article) The priesthood. “He is a respected man of the cloth.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle English cloth, clath, from Old English clāþ (“cloth, clothes, covering, sail”), from Proto-West Germanic *klaiþ, from Proto-Germanic *klaiþą (“garment”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gleyt- (“to cling to, cleave, stick”) (compare Albanian ngjit (“to stick, attach, glue”)), a form of *gleh₁y- (“to smear; to stick”). Cognate with Scots clath (“cloth”), North Frisian klaid (“dress, garment”), Saterland Frisian Klood (“dress, apparel”), West Frisian klaad, kleed (“cloth, article of clothing”), Dutch kleed (“robe, dress”), Low German kleed (“dress, garment”), German Kleid (“gown, dress”), Danish klæde (“cloth, dress”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk klede, Swedish kläde (“cloth”), Icelandic klæði (“cloth, dressing”), Old English clīþan (“to adhere, stick”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun A fabric made of fibrous material (or sometimes of wire, as in wire cloth); commonly, a woven fabric of cotton, woolen, or linen, adapted to be made into garments; specifically, woolen fabrics, as distinguished from all others.
- noun The dress; raiment. [Obs.] See Clothes.
Etymology [OE. clath cloth, AS. cla\'ed cloth, garment; akin to D. kleed, Icel. klæ\'ebi, Dan. klæde, cloth, Sw. kläde, G. kleid garment, dress.]
Sources: Wiktionary · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “cloth”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details