textile
Americannoun
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any cloth or goods produced by weaving, knitting, or felting.
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a material, as a fiber or yarn, used in or suitable for weaving.
Glass can be used as a textile.
adjective
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woven or capable of being woven.
textile fabrics.
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of or relating to weaving.
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of or relating to textiles or the production of textiles.
the textile industry.
noun
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any fabric or cloth, esp woven
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raw material suitable to be made into cloth; fibre or yarn
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a non-nudist, as described by nudists; one who wears clothes
adjective
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.
Vocabulary lists containing textile
Maus I: My Father Bleeds History
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Human Geography - Middle School
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The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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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
Other subjects included Hockney’s dachshunds, Stanley and Boodgie; friends, such as textile designer Celia Birtwell and curator Henry Geldzahler; and family, including his mother and father.
From The Wall Street Journal • 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
After all, it didn’t take much education to haul tobacco or push a few buttons on a machine in the textile mills.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
