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textile

American  
[teks-tahyl, -til] / ˈtɛks taɪl, -tɪl /

noun

  1. any cloth or goods produced by weaving, knitting, or felting.

  2. a material, as a fiber or yarn, used in or suitable for weaving.

    Glass can be used as a textile.


adjective

  1. woven or capable of being woven.

    textile fabrics.

  2. of or relating to weaving.

  3. of or relating to textiles or the production of textiles.

    the textile industry.

textile British  
/ ˈtɛkstaɪl /

noun

  1. any fabric or cloth, esp woven

  2. raw material suitable to be made into cloth; fibre or yarn

  3. a non-nudist, as described by nudists; one who wears clothes

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

  1. of or relating to fabrics or the making of fabrics

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of textile

1520–30; < Latin textilis woven, textile (noun use of neuter) woven fabric, equivalent to text ( us ), past participle of texere to weave + -ilis, -ile -ile

Explanation

A textile is something made by knitting, weaving, or crocheting fibers together. A textile is a cloth. You’re probably wearing a textile right now! Textile comes from the Latin word, textilis for "woven fabric” and that's exactly what it is. If you’re in the textile business, you’re dealing with the stuff that gets turned into clothes, flags, dishrags, or anything else made of cloth. If you knit a scarf, you create a hand-made textile — although the word is more often used in art or industry, as in textile design or textile imports.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Their findings, published in Advanced Materials, not only revive an ancient textile but also explain why its golden appearance remains vibrant over time.

From Science Daily • Jun. 12, 2026

India's textile and apparel sector contributes more than 2.3% of GDP and represents approximately 13% of industrial production.

From Science Daily • Jun. 12, 2026

At a Karur textile factory, busy with workers attaching labels to caps and ironing cloth bags, AFP saw eight people wearing head cameras and smart glasses supplied by Objectways.

From Barron's • Jun. 11, 2026

I was the son of a brick-mason father and a mother who worked in a textile mill.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026

The girl who lost her big toe in the mines at the age of eleven, Moon Sung Sim, was assigned to the textile factory.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

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