Calico (textile) - Terminology

Terminology

In the US:

• Calico—cotton fabric with a small, all-over floral print
• Muslin—simple, cheap equal weft and warp plain weave fabric in white, cream or unbleached cotton and/or a very fine, light plain weave cotton fabric (sometimes called muslin gauze).
• Muslin gauze—the very lightest, most open weave of muslin.
• Gauze—any very light fabric, generally with a plain weave
• Cheesecloth—extremely soft and fine cotton fabric with a very open plain weave.

In the UK, Australia and New Zealand:

• Calico—simple, cheap equal weft and warp plain weave fabric in white, cream or unbleached cotton.
• Muslin—a very fine, light plain weave cotton fabric.
• Muslin gauze—muslin.
• Gauze—extremely soft and fine cotton fabric with a very open plain weave.
• Cheesecloth—gauze.

Printed calico was imported into the United States from Lancashire in the 1780s, and here a linguistic separation occurred, while Europe maintained the word calico for the fabric, in the States it was used to refer to the printed design.

These colorful, small-patterned printed fabrics gave rise to the use of the word calico to describe a cat coat color: "calico cat". The patterned fabric also gave its name to two species of North American crabs; see the calico crab.