# fabric

Pronunciation: say "FAB-rik" /ˈfæb.ɹɪk/

## Noun

1. Cloth or other material made by weaving, knitting, or otherwise joining fibers together.
   - Simple: Cloth or material made from threads, used for clothes, curtains, and other things.
   - _Designers chose a lightweight fabric for the summer collection._
   - _The upholsterer covered the chairs in a durable fabric that resists stains._
2. The texture of a cloth: the character of its weave and the way its surface feels.
   - Simple: How a cloth feels and looks, such as smooth, rough, thick, or thin.
   - _Tweed is prized for its dense, springy fabric._
   - _Hand weaving gives the cloth an uneven fabric that collectors actually prize._
3. The framework that underlies and holds together a structure such as a society, institution, or system of ideas.
   - Simple: The basic structure that holds something together, such as a community or a way of life.
   - _Repeated scandals eroded the fabric of public trust in the institution._
   - _Small family farms were once woven into the very fabric of the regional economy._
4. The physical material making up a building, such as its walls, roof, and floors.
   - Simple: The walls, roof, and other solid parts that a building is made of.
   - _Decades of soot had blackened the fabric of the cathedral._
   - _The architects preserved the original fabric wherever the new floor plan allowed._
5. A network of interconnected nodes whose links, when diagrammed, resemble the weave of a textile.
   - Simple: A network of connected machines or parts that work together like threads in a cloth.
   - _The new fabric connects thousands of servers with uniform low latency._
   - _Adding nodes to the fabric requires no downtime or rewiring._
6. The fired clay material from which a pottery artifact is made.
   - Simple: The baked clay that a pot or other old object is made from.
   - _Archaeologists matched the coarse fabric of the pot shards to a nearby kiln site._
   - _A fine white fabric distinguishes the imported wares from local pottery._
7. The appearance of the crystalline grains that make up a rock.
   - Simple: The pattern that the small grains inside a rock make.
   - _Geologists noted a strongly aligned fabric in the metamorphic samples._
   - _The granite's coarse fabric is visible without a microscope._

## Verb

8. To cover an object or surface with fabric.
   - Simple: To put a layer of cloth over something to cover it.
   - _The upholstery shop will fabric the headboard in pale blue linen._
   - _Designers often fabric office partitions to soften the sound in open workplaces._

## Noun

9. The structure or make of something; the manner in which its parts are united; workmanship. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The way something is made and how its parts fit together.
   - _Eighteenth-century anatomists marveled at the delicate fabric of the eye._
   - _He admired the curious fabric of the spider's web glistening with dew._
10. An edifice or building, especially a stately or imposing one. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: A building, especially a large and grand one such as a church or palace.
   - _After the earthquake, scarcely a stone of the venerable fabric remained standing._
   - _Two centuries passed before the vast fabric was finished and its spire rose above the town._
11. The act or process of constructing something; construction or fabrication. *(archaic)*
   - Simple: The work of building or making something, such as a house or a ship.
   - _The king set aside funds for the fabric of a royal hospital._
   - _He oversaw the fabric of the bridge from the first piling to the last stone._

## Origin

Borrowed from French fabrique, from Latin fabrica ("a workshop, art, trade, or structure"), which comes from faber ("artisan, workman"). It is a doublet of fabrica and of forge.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/fabric (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).