calico English · revision 2376

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈkæ.lɪ.kəʊ/ ''(UK)''; /ˈkæ.lɪ.koʊ/ ''(US)''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ Named after ''Calicut'' (modern Kozhikode), a port on the Malabar coast of southwestern India from which European merchants imported cotton cloth.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) The English word is short for ''Calico cloth'', a variant of ''Calicut cloth''.^(RHWU) Etymonline says the place name is Tamil.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Originally a general name for cotton cloth imported from the East.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate) Barnhart dates ''kalyko'' to 1540, Etymonline to the 1530s and Merriam-Webster to 1578;^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) the OED records the place name from c1505.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In England the word came to mean plain white cotton cloth, while in the United States it meant printed cotton cloth coarser than muslin.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) From the printed cloth it described mottled animal coats, first of horses (1807) and from 1882 of cats.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c1505 – the city of Calicut.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1540 – ''kalyko'', cotton cloth from India.^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1612 – attributive, made of calico.^(OED 1989)

+ * c1800 – ''(US)'' printed cotton cloth.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1807 – ''(US)'' spotted, piebald, especially of horses.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1882 – of cats.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A coarse, brightly printed cotton cloth.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(chiefly UK)'' A plain white cotton fabric heavier than muslin.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+ # An animal, such as a cat, with a mottled coat of white with red and black patches.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' Cotton cloth imported from India.^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Made of calico.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Resembling printed calico; spotted or mottled.^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[calicoed]]

+ * [[calico bass]]

+ * [[calico bush]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}