a. and sb. [ad. L. textil-is woven, textile (sc. opus) woven fabric, f. text-, ppl. stem of tex-ĕre to weave. So F. textile.]
A. adj. 1. That has been or may be woven.
1656. Blount, Glossogr., Textile,… that is weaved or wounden, embroidered.
1755. Johnson, Textile,… woven; capable of being woven.
1852. Conybeare & Howson, St. Paul (1862), II. xx. 240. The wine and the textile fabrics of Cos.
1868. Rogers, Pol. Econ., viii. (1876), 74. Cotton and wool and other textile materials … from all quarters.
b. Nat. Hist. Having markings resembling a woven surface; e.g., textile cone, a species of cone-shell, Conus textilis, so marked; textile snake.
1802. Shaw, Gen. Zool., III. 462. Textile Snake. Coluber Textilis.… Yellowish-grey Snake, freckled with black, and marked by numerous, undulated, transverse, bright-ferruginous stripes.
1891. Cent. Dict., Textile cone.
2. Of or connected with weaving: see B. 1 b.
B. sb. 1. A woven fabric; any kind of cloth. (Usually in pl.)
1626. Bacon, Sylva, § 846. In the warp and woof of textiles.
1870. Rock, Text. Fabr., Introd. I. 10. The word ‘textile’ means every kind of stuff, no matter its material, wrought in the loom.
1885. Manch. Exam., 5 June, 5/6. Machines for the preparation of textiles.
1886. Pall Mall G., 3 May, 4/1. The prices of textiles have fallen considerably.
b. attrib. (or as adj.) Of or pertaining to weaving or to woven fabrics.
1844. G. Dodd, Textile Manuf., Introd. 6. By ‘Textile manufactures’ are meant those in which filaments of cotton, of flax, of silk, or of wool, are wrought into a form fitted to be used in the making of garments.
1866. Rogers, Agric. & Prices, I. xxii. 569. The great … centre of textile industry in England was the two north-eastern counties of Norfolk and Suffolk.
1871. Tylor, Prim. Cult., I. i. 7. Among textile arts are to be ranged matting, netting, and several grades of making and weaving threads.
2. Fibrous material, as flax, cotton, silk, etc., suitable for being spun and woven into yarn, cloth, etc.
1641. Wilkins, Math. Magick, II. xii. (1707), 141. The Materials … were not from any Herb, or Vegetable, as other Textiles, but from a Stone called Amiantus.
1883. Nature, 8 March, 430/1. As to textiles, the origin of flax is somewhat complicated.
1889. Science, 1 Feb., 81/2. The discovery of a new textile on the shores of the Caspian.
Hence Textilist, one engaged in the textile industry; a weaver or seller of cloth.
1855. Ecclesiologist, XVI. 275. The handicraft of the goldsmith, stone carver, and textilist.
