tweed

== English == === Etymology === Attested since the 1830s. Probably a shortening or back-formation from Scots tweedling (“a type of twilled cloth”), attested since the 16th century and related to tweedle; the two words are variants of tweeling and tweel, which go back to Middle English twel, twyle (“a type of woven fabric; twill”), whence also English twill. Scottish tradition says it derives directly from tweel when an English merchant misread tweels or tweeled (cloth) in an 1831 letter from a Scottish merchant as Tweed(s) and took it to be a trade-name based on the River Tweed, but the DSL says evidence for this is lacking, and because English merchants must have been familiar with tweel(ed cloth) before the 1830s, it seems unlikely to be based on misunderstanding tweel rather than on the well-attested tweedle. Several of the earliest citations, from 1839, 1841, and 1845 treat it as a new name for a familiar cloth. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /twiːd/ Rhymes: -iːd === Noun === tweed (countable and uncountable, plural tweeds) A coarse woolen fabric used for clothing. 1839, Great Britain. Central Criminal Court, Central Criminal Court. Minutes of Evidence, page 75: MICHAEL NOWAK, alias John Mazurkiewiez, was indicted for stealing, on the 15th of April, 2 1/4 yards of woollen cloth, called tweed, value 12s., and 2 1/4 yards of woollen cloth, called doe-skin, value 17s., […] ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === References === === Anagrams === dewet, dweet, tewed == Finnish == === Alternative forms === tviidi (chiefly colloquial) === Etymology === Unadapted borrowing from English tweed. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈtʋiːdi/, [ˈt̪ʋiːdi] Rhymes: -iːdi === Noun === tweed tweed (fabric) ==== Declension ==== ==== Synonyms ==== tweedkangas ==== Derived terms ==== === Further reading === “tweed”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎[2] (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 3 July 2023 == French == === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /twid/ === Noun === tweed m (uncountable) tweed === Further reading === “tweed”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012 == Portuguese == === Noun === tweed m (uncountable) tweed (coarse woolen fabric) === Further reading === “tweed”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026 “tweed”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2026 == Romanian == === Etymology === Borrowed from English tweed. === Noun === tweed n (plural tweeduri) tweed ==== Declension ==== == Spanish == === Etymology === Borrowed from English tweed. === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /ˈtwid/ [ˈt̪wið̞] Rhymes: -id === Noun === tweed m (uncountable) tweed === Further reading === “tweed”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025