fabric

[fab-rik]

noun

1. a cloth made by weaving, knitting, or felting fibers.

   woolen fabrics.

2. the texture of the woven, knitted, or felted material.

   cloth of a soft, pliant fabric.

3. framework; structure.

   the fabric of society.

4. a building; edifice.

5. the method of construction.

6. the act of constructing, especially of a church building.

7. the maintenance of such a building.

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

fabric

/ ˈfæbrɪk /

noun

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

2. the texture of a cloth

3. a structure or framework

   the fabric of society

4. a style or method of construction

5. rare,  a building

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of fabric¹

1475–85; (< Middle French fabrique ) < Latin fabrica craft, especially metalworking or building, workshop. See forge ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of fabric¹

C15: from Latin fabrica workshop, from faber craftsman

Example Sentences

Death has always been part of the fabric of the storytelling on “Downton Abbey.”

From Los Angeles Times

He had his own ideas about color and fabric as well.

From Los Angeles Times

He learned what fabrics the customers liked, and went to the textile mills to buy them.

From BBC

Some were made from colorful tweed, iridescent fabric or patterned upholstery material.

From Los Angeles Times

From gated colonies to roadside tea stalls, they are woven into the fabric of daily urban life.

From BBC

Related Words

• fiber 
• goods 
• textile 
• texture