general terms/specific terms - 11/26/07 05:32 PM
for all you Latin and greek scholars..(and any arabic or other semantic language mavens!)
i am interested some info about general/specific terms about textiles.
what do i mean by general specific?
"corn/grain" is a general term.. (they harvested the ripe corn)
Wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc are specific terms.. (the main crop was rye)
for some things (beetles say) there is one term that covers a lot of territory.. while scholars might differentiate between the thousand of beetles, most of us would say:
Lady bug or (Other) "Beetle"
(or maybe, A large beetle, or a small beetle, or black beetle or a (named a characteristic) beetle. beetle is a pretty generic name for a class of bugs..(another generic term!)
bugs include insects, spiders, worms, etc)
did the romans/greeks/arabs have different a lot (or few) words for cloth (woven fabric)?
did they have a word for ribbon (a narrow band of cloth) or a word like 'bolt" (a length of cloth, folded or wrapped up, and often CUT to length desired) or an ell (a specific word for a small bolt--about 5 yards (14 to 15 feet of cloth)--usually sold whole. (it could be cut up by purchacer, but an ell was usually sold whole.. 1 ell or 5 ells, but almost never sold as 1/2 an ell)
Did 1 generic word (like cloth) cover them all?
in english there are lots of words for cloth. all of the above, and many many more!
we also have scraps/pieces (as in piece work (ie quilting) or rags (old, used, worn out cloth)
getting further, english has many words for the specific weave (twill, monks cloth, plain weave, leno, damask, jacquard, muslin, etc)
and we have --but they are falling out of use, both linen(s) (for cloth made from flax) and woolen(s) (for cloth made from wool) Cotton(s)--a new additions, (and silk(s)) (there is even the word fabric (made goods!) that has come to mean cloth!
words about weaving would interest me too...!
i am interested some info about general/specific terms about textiles.
what do i mean by general specific?
"corn/grain" is a general term.. (they harvested the ripe corn)
Wheat, barley, oats, rye, etc are specific terms.. (the main crop was rye)
for some things (beetles say) there is one term that covers a lot of territory.. while scholars might differentiate between the thousand of beetles, most of us would say:
Lady bug or (Other) "Beetle"
(or maybe, A large beetle, or a small beetle, or black beetle or a (named a characteristic) beetle. beetle is a pretty generic name for a class of bugs..(another generic term!)
bugs include insects, spiders, worms, etc)
did the romans/greeks/arabs have different a lot (or few) words for cloth (woven fabric)?
did they have a word for ribbon (a narrow band of cloth) or a word like 'bolt" (a length of cloth, folded or wrapped up, and often CUT to length desired) or an ell (a specific word for a small bolt--about 5 yards (14 to 15 feet of cloth)--usually sold whole. (it could be cut up by purchacer, but an ell was usually sold whole.. 1 ell or 5 ells, but almost never sold as 1/2 an ell)
Did 1 generic word (like cloth) cover them all?
in english there are lots of words for cloth. all of the above, and many many more!
we also have scraps/pieces (as in piece work (ie quilting) or rags (old, used, worn out cloth)
getting further, english has many words for the specific weave (twill, monks cloth, plain weave, leno, damask, jacquard, muslin, etc)
and we have --but they are falling out of use, both linen(s) (for cloth made from flax) and woolen(s) (for cloth made from wool) Cotton(s)--a new additions, (and silk(s)) (there is even the word fabric (made goods!) that has come to mean cloth!
words about weaving would interest me too...!