calico

Meanings

1. 1
   adj

   having sections or patches colored differently and usually brightly

   They love calico cats.

2. 2
   adj

   made of calico or resembling calico in being patterned

   Calico dresses come and go in popularity.

3. 3
   noun

   A kind of rough cloth made from unbleached and not fully processed cotton, often printed with a bright pattern.

   This helix was covered with calico, and then a second wire applied in the same manner.

4. 4
   noun

   Ellipsis of calico cat.

   One of them, a calico whose half-grown kittens he just fed, slow-blinks at him, an affectionate gesture.

Simplified etymology

Calico, recorded from the mid-16th century, was named for Calicut in southern India, where the cloth originated.

From Calicut, from where the cloth was originally exported, from Malayalam കോഴിക്കോട് (kōḻikkōṭŭ, “Kozhikode”), from കോഴി (kōḻi, “palace”) + കോട് (kōṭŭ, “fortified palace”).

Topics

External links

• Google Images
• Cambridge Dictionary
• Wiktionary