Also 7 -att, -et. The name of a town and district in the presidency of Bombay, India, used attrib. to designate (a) a kind of cotton produced in the neighborhood. (b) coarse cotton goods, usually uncolored; also ellipt. and as sb. (with pl.) = Surat cotton, etc.
1643. in E. B. Sainsbury, Cal. Crt. Min. E. Ind. Co. (1909), 329. [Calicoes] Suratt narrowes.
1653. Lading Du. E. Ind. Ships. 225 pieces Surets.
1842. Penny Cycl., XXIII. 277/1. They import salt, dates, and Surat piece-goods.
1846. Commercial Mag., Oct., 184. We quote now an advance … of 1/4d. in all descriptions of Surat.
1865. Simmonds, Ure’s Philos. Manuf., 87 (Descr. of Figure). Surat Cotton.
1865. Pall Mall G., 11 May, 1/1. East Indian cotton, or ‘Surats,’ as it is commonly named, advanced from its ordinary price of 4d. to 20d. per pound.
1885. Hummel, Dyeing Textile Fabrics, 2. The Madras, Surat, and short-stapled Egyptian cotton.
