Calico derives its name from the city of Calicut in India. The city is scarcely known to-day; it was the first Indian city visited by Europeans.
In the thirteenth century Arras was famous for its areste or tapestry, "the noblest of the weaving arts"; in it there is nothing mechanical. Mechanical weaving repeats the pattern on the cloth within comparatively narrow limits and the number of colors is in most cases limited to four or five.
Silks and cottons are distinguished through their colors and shades. Tarsus was a purple silk. Other cities gave their name to various shades, according as they were dyed at Antioch, Alexandria, or at Naples. Watered or moire silk takes its name from the finish.
From "canabis," the Latin name for hemp or flax, we have the word "canvas" to mean any texture woven of hempen thread.
To this list of fabrics might be added many others of cotton, linen, wool, and silk with new names, closely resembling the old materials, having greater or less merit.
The following lists of fabrics and terms may be helpful for reference:
Art linen—With round, hard twisted threads.
"Albert cloth"—Named for England's prince, is a reversible all-wool material each side of different colors and so finished that no lining is required. It is used chiefly for overcoats and better known as "golf cloth," "plaid back," etc.
Armure—A cloth woven in miniature imitation of feudal metal armor plates, heraldic devices, diamonds, birdseye, and seeded effects.
Astrakhan—A woolen or silk material with a long and closely curled pile in imitation of the fur from which it is named.