twill

See also: 'twill

English

A 3/1 twill

Alternative forms

• tweel

Etymology

PIE word
*dwóh₁

From Middle English twyll, twylle, from Old English twilic (“two-threaded”), a partial calque of Latin bilix, bilic-, from bis (“twice”) + licium (“thread”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /twɪl/, [twɪɫ]

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪl
• Homophone: 'twill

Noun

twill (countable and uncountable, plural twills)

1. (weaving) A pattern, characterised by diagonal ridges, created by the regular interlacing of threads of the warp and weft during weaving.
   • 1973, P. R. Lord, M. H. Mohamed, Weaving: Conversion of Yarn to Fabric, 2nd edition, page 167:

     The twill weave is always given a direction; a right-hand twill is one in which the twill line runs from bottom left to top right and a left-hand twill is one in which the twill line runs from bottom right to top left. The angle of the twill is determined by the amount of shift in the points of interlacing.

   • 2000, Walter S. Sondhelm, “4: Technical fabric structures - 1. Woven fabrics”, in A. Richard Horrocks, Subhash C. Anand, editors, Handbook of Technical Textiles, page 68:

     Industrial uses of twill fabrics are mainly restricted to simple twills and only simple twills are described here. Broken twills, waved twills, herringbone twills and elongated twills are extensively used for suiting and dress fabrics.

   • 2002, Dianne Rose Jackman, Mary K. Dixon, Jill Condra, The Guide to Textiles for Interiors, page 98:

     Herringbone fabrics are a twill variation having the twill line reversed at regular intervals.

2. A cloth or portion of cloth woven in such a pattern.
   • 2006, Mark Montano, Carly Sommerstein, Window Treatments and Slipcovers For Dummies, page 33:

     Plain cotton twills, such as canvas, sailcloth, and denim, in mediumweight fabrics, can be a good choice for informal rooms that receive considerable wear and tear, such as rec rooms, dens, playrooms, or children's bedrooms.

Derived terms

• diamond twill
• tackle twill
• twill tape

 

Translations

weaving pattern

• Catalan: sarja (ca) f
• Czech: kepr m
• Dutch: keper (nl) m
• Finnish: toimikas
• French: sergé (fr)
• German: Köperbindung f, Köper (de) m
• Hungarian: sávoly (hu)
• Irish: corrán m
• Italian: saia f
• Japanese: 綾織
• Quechua: khata
• Russian: са́ржа (ru) f (sárža), твил (ru) m (tvil)
• Scots: tweel
• Spanish: sarga (es) f

type of cloth

• Catalan: sarja (ca) f
• Czech: kepr m
• Finnish: toimikaskangas, tvilli (fi)
• German: Köper (de) m
• Irish: corrán m
• Italian: saia f
• Thai: please add this translation if you can

Verb

twill (third-person singular simple present twills, present participle twilling, simple past and past participle twilled)

1. (transitive) To weave (cloth, etc.) so as to produce the appearance of diagonal lines or ribs on the surface.

Derived terms

• twilled