textile

American  

[teks-tahyl, -til] / ˈtɛks taɪl, -tɪl /

noun

textiles plural

1. any cloth or goods produced by weaving, knitting, or felting.

2. a material, as a fiber or yarn, used in or suitable for weaving.

   Glass can be used as a textile.

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adjective

1. woven or capable of being woven.

   textile fabrics.

2. of or relating to weaving.

3. of or relating to textiles or the production of textiles.

   the textile industry.

textile British  

/ ˈtɛkstaɪl /

noun

1. any fabric or cloth, esp woven

2. raw material suitable to be made into cloth; fibre or yarn

3. a non-nudist, as described by nudists; one who wears clothes

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adjective

1. of or relating to fabrics or the making of fabrics

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• textiles
  plural

Etymology

Origin of textile

1520–30; < Latin textilis woven, textile (noun use of neuter) woven fabric, equivalent to text ( us ), past participle of texere to weave + -ilis, -ile -ile

Explanation

A textile is something made by knitting, weaving, or crocheting fibers together. A textile is a cloth. You’re probably wearing a textile right now! Textile comes from the Latin word, textilis for "woven fabric” and that's exactly what it is. If you’re in the textile business, you’re dealing with the stuff that gets turned into clothes, flags, dishrags, or anything else made of cloth. If you knit a scarf, you create a hand-made textile — although the word is more often used in art or industry, as in textile design or textile imports.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

textile textiles

Three city guides then told the story of Glasgow, using staging inspired by Scotland's pioneering textile industry and the River Clyde's shipbuilding heritage.

From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026

Eurenco is overseeing a pilot project in Sweden that seeks to turn textile waste into nitrocellulose.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

The home textile manufacturing giant, among India's largest, supplies bedsheets and towels to several major British high-street retailers like John Lewis and Tesco among others.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

Easy to order and replace, fast fashion items contribute to pollution from the textile industry, which accounts for nearly 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.

From Barron's ● Jun. 29, 2026

Mealtime portions in the farm’s cafeteria were no larger than at the cement factory, the textile mill, or the mines.

From "Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West" by Blaine Harden

In her bedroom, she mixes floral textiles and modern art with a quirky stepstool shaped like an ear of corn.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

"Simple things from textiles to high-end things, all 1.4 billion people will need. And instead of being imported, all will get manufactured," he said.

From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026

It contained a huge range of items including furniture, paintings and textiles.

From BBC ● Jul. 7, 2026

Graphic textiles mixed with wood and metal accents can make a lawn feel less like a backyard and more like an outdoor living room.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026

Women with kohl-rimmed eyes flocked around carts of multicolored pots, while bearded men in extravagant garb haggled over wax-dyed textiles that shimmered in the breeze.

From "Beasts of Prey" by Ayana Gray

Related Words

• cloth
• fiber
• goods
• yarn