Dictionary

cloth en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• [klɔ̟θ] (New-Zealand)
• klôth (US)
• /klɑθ/ (cot-caught-merger)
• klōth (obsolete)
• (General-American) audio cot-caught
• /klɔːθ/ (Received-Pronunciation, archaic)
• /klɒθ/ (New-Zealand)
• /klɔθ/ (Australia, British, Scotland, Southern, Standard)
• /klɒθ/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• /klɔθ/ without the cot–caught merger
• /kloʊθ/ (obsolete)
• /klɒθ/ (Canada)
• klŏth (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English cloth, clath, from Old English clāþ (“cloth, clothes, covering, sail”), from Proto-West Germanic *klaiþ, from Proto-Germanic *klaiþą (“garment”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *gleyt- (“to cling to, cleave, stick”) (compare Albanian ngjit (“to stick, attach, glue”)), a form of *gleh₁y- (“to smear; to stick”). Cognate with Scots clath (“cloth”), North Frisian klaid (“dress, garment”), Saterland Frisian Klood (“dress, apparel”), West Frisian klaad, kleed (“cloth, article of clothing”), Dutch kleed (“robe, dress”), Low German kleed (“dress, garment”), German Kleid (“gown, dress”), Danish klæde (“cloth, dress”), Norwegian Bokmål and Norwegian Nynorsk klede, Swedish kläde (“cloth”), Icelandic klæði (“cloth, dressing”), Old English clīþan (“to adhere, stick”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A fabric, usually made of woven, knitted, or felted fibres or filaments, such as used in dressing, decorating, cleaning or other practical use. Sometimes, woven fabric specifically.
   • In trumpets for assisting the hearing, all reverbation of the trumpet must be avoided. It must be made thick, of the least elastic materials, and covered with cloth externally. 1820, Encyclopaedia Britannica; Or A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, and Miscellaneous Literature, 6th edition, volume 20, Edinburgh: Archibald Constable and Company, page 501:
   • “It was last Saturday […] that two boys, playing in the little spinney just outside Wembley Park Station, came across three large parcels done up in American cloth.[…]” 1904–1905, Baroness Orczy [i.e., Emma Orczy], “The Lisson Grove Mystery”, in The Case of Miss Elliott, London: T[homas] Fisher Unwin, published 1905, →OCLC; republished as popular edition, London: Greening & Co., 1909, OCLC 11192831, quoted in The Case of Miss Elliott (ebook no. 2000141h.html), Australia: Project Gutenberg of Australia, February 2020:
   • Near-synonyms: (not always differentiated) fabric, material (fabric sense), textile; see also Thesaurus:fabric
   • There were other types of looms for producing various specialised types of cloth, for example fustians and velvets, but there is not space here to discuss these. 2017, Roger Holden, Manufacturing the Cloth of the World, →ISBN, page 26:
2. (countable, uncountable) Specifically, a tablecloth, especially as spread before a meal or removed afterwards.
   • One day he came, as I thought accidentally, to dinner. My huſband was very much engaged in buſineſs, and quitted the room ſoon after the cloth was removed. 1798, Mary Wollstonecraft Godwin, “[Maria: or, The] Wrongs of Woman”, in W[illiam] Godwin, editor, Posthumous Works of the Author of A Vindication of the Rights of Woman. […], volume II, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […]; and G[eorge,] G[eorge] and J[ohn] Robinson, […], →OCLC, chapter XI, page 52:
3. (countable) A piece of cloth used for a particular purpose.
   • The stole is a long scarf-like cloth that hangs around the neck, over the shoulders and down the front of bishops and priests [generally, two-four inches across]. 2004, Robin D. Gill, Topsy-turvy 1585, →ISBN:
   • The first room the people enter was formerly the Presence Chamber, which is hung completely with black, and at the r-end a cloth of estate, with a chair of estate standing upon the Haut-place under the state. 1824, The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction:
   • Wipe the surface with a cloth dampened with mineral spirits in order to remove the sanding dust, then brush on a full coat of varnish. 2009, Albert Jackson, David Day, Popular Mechanics Complete Home How-to, →ISBN, page 80:
4. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) Substance or essence; the whole of something complex.
   • A wrinkle in the cloth of time, a cry of soft caress and fragrant dreams to weld the metal fabric souls in blends so held in high regards across the lands and sky. 2012, R. Tirrell Leonard Jr., In The Murmuring Trees, →ISBN, page 79:
   • . The rhythm of life in rural Asia has followed an unchanging pattern from generation to generation and for the chronically poor it is soaked in the cloth of continued deprivation. 2009, John Malcolm Dowling, Chin-Fang Yap, Chronic Poverty in Asia: Causes, Consequences and Policies, →ISBN:
   • The disparate threads contained are, in the cloth of a religious society, ready to revolutionize the world and bring the Kingdom of Heaven into its full reality on earth. 2004, Thomas D. Hamm, The Quakers in America, →ISBN, page 124:
   • . If we look beyond the chaos of each moment, we cannot help seeing that we are but one glorious thread in the cloth of life. 2001, Sang H. Kim, The Art of Harmony: A Guide to Happiness, →ISBN, page 14:
5. (countable, figuratively, uncountable) Appearance; seeming.
   • After being at your beck and call all these years, he wants a woman, not the consummate teen-ager pretending she's a grownup wrapping her flesh in the cloth of her church. 2014, Shara Russell, In the Shadow of Faith, →ISBN:
   • Not until rehabilitation was wrapped in the cloth of wartime patriotism—a program billed as necessary for the welfare of disabled soldiers—did it receive overwhelming congressional support. 2011, Beth Linker, War's Waste: Rehabilitation in World War I America, →ISBN, page 148:
   • Unbelievably, he smiled through his cracked and bleeding lips. A horrible nightmare cloaked in the cloth of good. 2007, Kathy Steffen, First, There Is a River, →ISBN:
   • Like all cultural realities, contemporary modernism is packed with its own myths, its own largely unrecognized metaphors, its own poetics literally perceived -- or should we say, "misperceived"? -- its own reifications and idiosyncratic distinctions. And it comes to us decorated in the cloth of emancipation, a new freedom that would seem to liberate us from those restraints and bonds that were the excretions of an older mindset, an alien political and social order, a rigid and stultifying hierarchy now perceived as riddled with superstition, arbitrary premise, and false conjunction — in contrast, of course, to the liberated mindset that bespeaks our own age! 2002, Patricia L. Munhall, Ed Madden, Virginia Macken Fitzsimons, The Emergence of Man Into the 21st Century, →ISBN, page 407:
6. (countable, uncountable) A form of attire that represents a particular profession or status.
   • Occasionally the most fortunate found a jewel, a golden-encrusted dagger, a ring, or some other precious gem which decorated the cloths of glory the Persian chieftains and satraps wore. 2013, Paul Doherty, The House of Death, →ISBN:
   • Wearing the cloth of kings would seem to be an appropriate symbol. 2004, Alison Dundes Renteln, The Cultural Defense, →ISBN, page 151:
   • But he could not come in the white cloth of celebration to a burial service, and he could hardly come in the cloth of mourning to celebrate his two decades on the stool. 1993, Kwame Anthony Appiah, In My Father's House: Africa in the Philosophy of Culture, →ISBN, page 185:
   • The Old Testament Ministers of God, Aaron and his sons, who were the priests, wore special 'cloths of service.' They were dressed in 'holy garments' so that they could stand and offer in the Presence of God, being beautified by them and being enabled through them to perform their sacred duties. 2016, Stephen John Goundry, Hot Coals of Fire: The Sanctity of the Ministry, →ISBN:
7. (countable, idiomatic, uncountable, with-definite-article) The priesthood.
   • He is a respected man of the cloth.
   • As someone who finds clear shouts of lively encouragement easier to identify than the “still small voice of calm”, like the prairie rodent I scurried off to various members of the cloth to ask how they ascertained their calling. 2025 June 20, Josephine Gabelman, “Differentiating between career progression and God’s call”, in Church Times:

Forms

Deriveds

composition cloth · dropcloth · man of the cloth · nettlecloth · wire cloth · hearsecloth · monkscloth · airplane cloth · silvercloth · crumbcloth · book-cloth · clot shot · J-cloth · space cloth · cut the coat according to the cloth · zephyr cloth · housecloth · table cloth · gravecloth · toilet cloth · traycloth · cloth hall · winding cloth · cloth of gold · clothbound · pincloth · Thibet cloth · cloth cap · haircloth · Henrietta cloth · mummy cloth · American cloth · altar-cloth · forecloth · vellum cloth · Janus cloth · handcloth · facecloth · saddle-cloth · union cloth · ironing cloth · cloth of tissue · emery cloth · pilot cloth · dishcloth · breech-cloth · oilcloth · rick cloth · sealskin cloth · doublecloth · focussing cloth · face cloth · clothwork · shake a cloth in the wind · weather cloth · hardware cloth · saddlecloth · knight of the green cloth · backcloth · sackcloth · focusing cloth · sweat-cloth · charcloth · clothmaker · communion cloth · clothless · out of whole cloth · Italian cloth · washcloth · loincloth · clothed · topcloth · clothier · mudcloth · lee cloth · floorcloth · cerecloth · leathercloth · narrow cloth · barkcloth · pagri cloth · microcloth · clothism · lot-cloth split · bolting cloth · pressing cloth · neckcloth · drabcloth · barmcloth · cut out of the same cloth · cheesecloth · cloth-ears · Aida cloth · cut one's cloth to suit one's purse · pad cloth · clothlike · shade cloth · clothmaking · dish-cloth · salamander cloth · brattice cloth · whole cloth · dustcloth · spider cloth · broadcloth · nightcloth · packcloth · race cloth · dish cloth · empress cloth · clothify · draw the cloth · glasscloth · sailcloth · hindcloth · paper-cloth · cloth-eared · touch cloth · clothback · cloth pad · neck-cloth · chincloth · rune cloth · tablecloth · clothy · Venetian cloth · drop cloth · grasscloth · altar cloth · kente cloth · clothyard · waxcloth · horsecloth · tea cloth · breechcloth · terry cloth · back-cloth star · teacloth · waistcloth · cut from the same cloth · mort cloth · match-cloth · shaving cloth · table-cloth · Greencloth · nettle cloth · overcloth · footcloth · poodle cloth · cloth nappy · woman of the cloth · commando cloth · skycloth · sponge cloth · groundcloth · gold cloth · cut one's coat according to one's cloth · lady's cloth · back-cloth · dust cloth · cut of the same cloth · green cloth · clothworker · headcloth · clothhead · take the cloth · undercloth

Hypernyms

substance · material · stuff · matter

Relateds

clothing · clothe · clothes

Synonyms

fabric · material · fabric · cloth · material (woven fabric) · stuff (woven fabric) · textile · textile

Translations (254)

ckb پەڕۆ (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · nl kleed (fabric) · cs látka (fabric) · cmn 布 (fabric) · tpw aoba (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · sco cloot (fabric) · ps ټوکر (form of attire) · kmr cil (fabric) · ca drap (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · pl tkanina (fabric) · fa-ira قُماش (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · sw nguo (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · ba туҡыма (fabric) · prs قُمَاش (fabric) · cmn 布料 (fabric) · ta துணி (form of attire) · it vestiario (form of attire) · tl damit (form of attire) · km ខាន់ (fabric) · sk súkno (fabric) · es contray (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · sl krpa (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · da klud (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · ar مِمْسَحَة (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · ja 布 (fabric) · es tela (fabric) · kk мата (fabric) · nv naakʼaʼatʼą́hí (fabric) · ga éadach (fabric) · be ану́чка (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · de Tuch (fabric) · es traje (form of attire) · ckb بەرگ (form of attire) · kmr cil (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · it panno (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · fi vaate (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · tly پارچه (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · bg платно́ (fabric) · ru мате́рия (fabric) · shn ၽႃႈ (fabric) · cmn 裝束 /装束 (form of attire) · it stoffa (fabric) · ltg drēbe (fabric) · dlm tial (fabric) · fa-ira پارْچِه (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · pdt Zeich (fabric) · sw vazi (fabric) · grc ὕφασμα (fabric) · got 𐍀𐌻𐌰𐍄 (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · sh тка̀нина (fabric) · eu mantar (fabric) · es trozo de tela (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · it abito (form of attire) · it tenuta (form of attire) · uz mato (fabric) · ga ceirt (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · es atuendo (form of attire) · prs پَارْچَه (fabric) · it tela (fabric) · hy շոր (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · ru мунди́р (form of attire) · chr ᎠᏄᏬ (fabric) · el ύφασμα (fabric) · sh súkno (fabric) · pt pano (fabric) · hy կտոր (fabric) · sk plátno (fabric) · cmn 服裝 /服装 (form of attire) · gu કપડું (fabric) · uk ганчі́рка (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · pl płótno (fabric) · cmn 織物 /织物 (fabric) · arz قماشة (fabric) · fa قماش (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · uz gazmol (fabric) · prs پَارْچَه (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · hu ruha (fabric) · fr tissu (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · fi kangas (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · ru тря́пка (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · gd aodach (fabric) · haw ʻaʻa (fabric) · fi puku (form of attire) · hi कपड़ा (fabric) · fr tenue (form of attire) · be ану́ча (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · pl sukno (fabric) · ru сукно́ (fabric) · ga éadach (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · tg газвор (fabric) · fa-ira پارْچِه (fabric) · es paño (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · uk сукно́ (fabric) · it straccio (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · kmr libas (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · el πανί (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · da dug (fabric) · es apariencia (appearance, seeming) · ps ټوکر (fabric) · esu lumarraq (fabric) · de Tuch (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · fa پارچه (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · ca tela (fabric) · ar قُمَاش (fabric) · cmn 着裝 (form of attire) · fur tele (fabric) · tr kumaş (fabric) · sw nguo (form of attire) · vi vải vóc (fabric) · ta துணி (fabric) · cs tkanina (fabric) · sv tyg (fabric) · syl ꠇꠣꠙꠞ (fabric) · ms kain (fabric) · el ένδυμα (form of attire) · rhg hoor (fabric) · he תִּלְבֹּשֶׁת \ תלבושת (form of attire) · ln elamba (fabric) · ckb جل (form of attire) · da stof (fabric) · yue 布 (fabric) · bni elamba (fabric) · fr tissu (fabric) · bn কাপড় (fabric) · sl cunja (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · sv uniform (form of attire) · sh су́кно (fabric) · tg порча (fabric) · fi kudos (metaphoric: substance or essence) · el στολή (form of attire) · eo ŝtofo (fabric) · he מדים (form of attire) · pms teila (fabric) · az əski (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · kln sret (fabric) · la textilia (fabric) · cmn 布料 (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · da præstekjole (priesthood, clergy) · fi asu (form of attire) · mn даавуу (fabric) · nb klut (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · ltg audaklys (fabric) · stq Klood (fabric) · nl vod (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · nl doek (fabric) · ru фо́рма (form of attire) · be ткані́на (fabric) · es aire (appearance, seeming) · nb duk (fabric) · it abbigliamento (form of attire) · az qumaş (fabric) · tpw aoba (fabric) · he בַּד (fabric) · is klæði (fabric) · cmn 衣料 (fabric) · bg су́кно (fabric) · es indumentaria (form of attire) · oui 𐽼𐽳𐽴 (fabric) · sw nguo (fabric) · ta துணி (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · lg olugoye (fabric) · cs prachovka (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · lo ຜ້າ (fabric) · my ပိတ် (fabric) · sv plagg (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · as কাপোৰ (fabric) · sl blago (fabric) · kmr cilûberg (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · sk prachovka (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · tg матоъ (fabric) · cy lliain (fabric) · ro cârpă (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · es trapo (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · fa-ira قُماش (fabric) · prs قُمَاش (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · ach boŋo (fabric) · th ผ้า (fabric) · da klæde (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · nap veste (fabric) · km ក្រណាត់ (fabric) · ur پارْچَہ (fabric) · az cındır (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · luy engubo (fabric) · de Stoff (fabric) · ky кездеме (fabric) · sa अंशुक (fabric) · bg парца́л (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · fi kangas (fabric) · nv naakʼaʼatʼą́hí (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · kk кездеме (fabric) · cy brethyn (woollen) (fabric) · cs plátno (fabric) · cs hadr (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · wa stofe (fabric) · he בַּד (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · es pedazo de tela (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · sk látka (fabric) · haw lole (fabric) · eo tuko (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · ro pânză (fabric) · pt tecido (fabric) · arz جوخ (fabric) · cmn 布 (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · acw قُماش (fabric) · es atavío (form of attire) · fi asu (appearance, seeming) · es ajuar (form of attire) · mi kaka (fabric) · es fachada (appearance, seeming) · tl retaso (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · be сукно́ (fabric) · da tøj (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · gun ajukue (fabric) · hi पारचा (fabric) · ps ټوکر (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · vi vải (fabric) · tl tela (fabric) · hu ruhaanyag (fabric) · uk ткани́на (fabric) · az parça (fabric) · ur کَپْڑَا (fabric) · tg қумош (fabric) · ro stofă (fabric) · pt pano (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · ru ткань (fabric) · sl prt (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · el ύφασμα (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · ka ქსოვილი (fabric) · ko 천 (fabric) · yi טוך (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · ar أقمشة (fabric) · sh tkànina (fabric) · kmr libas (fabric) · pl szmata (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · mnc ᠪᠣᠰᠣ (fabric) · es facha (appearance, seeming) · fr étoffe (fabric) · ki nguo (fabric) · wmw nguo (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · sv tygstycke (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · it cencio (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · de Lappen (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · it tessuto (fabric) · mk крпа (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · dsb sukno (fabric) · yi געוועב (fabric) · cs sukno (fabric) · nb stoff (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · lv audums (fabric) · pl materiał (fabric) · it tonaca (form of attire) · kmr cilûberg (fabric) · sk handra (piece of cloth for a particular purpose) · la texta (fabric)

wikidata: Q5849500