fabric

[fab-rik]

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noun

a cloth made by weaving, knitting, or felting fibers: woolen fabrics.

the texture of the woven, knitted, or felted material: cloth of a soft, pliant fabric.

framework; structure: the fabric of society.

a building; edifice.

the method of construction.

the act of constructing, especially of a church building.

the maintenance of such a building.

Petrography. the spatial arrangement and orientation of the constituents of a rock.

Origin of fabric

1475–85; (< Middle French fabrique) < Latin fabrica craft, especially metalworking or building, workshop. See forge¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for fabric

textile, fiber, texture, goods, web, stuff, bolt, building, foundation, infrastructure, constitution, substance, stamp, frame, framework, construction, consistency, organization, mold, make-up

Examples from the Web for fabric

Contemporary Examples of fabric

It's about the delicate fabric of the universe and how our fragile insides crumble when that fabric is torn.
Alfred Hitchcock’s Fade to Black: The Great Director’s Final Days
David Freeman
December 13, 2014
You even went out and bought the fabric for your own Oscar dress, which would be unthinkable for an actress to do today.
All Eyes on Anjelica Huston: The Legendary Actress on Love, Abuse, and Jack Nicholson
Alex Suskind
November 10, 2014
The women of the city donned their abayas, the fabric drawn in around their waists.
Saudi Activist Manal Al-Sharif on Why She Removed the Veil
Manal Al Sharif, Advancing Human Rights
October 30, 2014
However, in all his work, even in many of the nude portraits he took, there are veils, whether of glass or fabric or color washes.
Vogue Photographer Erwin Blumenfeld: Secrets of a Fashion Legend
Tim Teeman
September 14, 2014
Burlesque artists are often in it for the costumes, spending what they earn on fabric, feathers, and crystals.
Best Career Arc Ever: From Burlesque To Bartending
Anne Berry
September 13, 2014

Historical Examples of fabric

Even through the fabric of their suits he could feel her trembling.
Pirates of the Gorm
Nat Schachner
Nona was gripping his hand with a pressure that penetrated the fabric.
Pirates of the Gorm
Nat Schachner
It left in the paper an indistinct impression resembling a fabric.
Why Bewick Succeeded
Jacob Kainen
The tale of Atlantis is the fabric of a vision, but it has never ceased to interest mankind.
Timaeus
Plato
Then all the fabric of his mother's honor would there and then tumble to the ground.
A Son of Hagar
Sir Hall Caine

British Dictionary definitions for fabric

fabric

noun

any cloth made from yarn or fibres by weaving, knitting, felting, etc

the texture of a cloth

a structure or frameworkthe fabric of society

a style or method of construction

rare a building

the texture, arrangement, and orientation of the constituents of a rock

Word Origin for fabric

C15: from Latin fabrica workshop, from faber craftsman

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for fabric

late 15c., "building, thing made," from Middle French fabrique (14c.), from Latin fabrica "workshop," also "an art, trade; a skillful production, structure, fabric," from faber "artisan who works in hard materials," from PIE *dhabh- "to fit together." Sense in English evolved via "manufactured material" (1753) to "textile" (1791).