multifilamentadj.n.
/ˌmʌltɪˈfɪləm(ə)nt/, U.S. /ˌməltiˈfɪləm(ə)nt/; see also multi- comb. form. A. adj.
Containing or composed of several filaments; spec. designating a yarn made up of many fine threads.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > thread or yarn > [adjective] > multiply
grandrelle1856
twofold1880
multi-ply1926
multifilament1937
1937 W. Watson Textile Design & Colour (ed. 4) 437 The diameter of each orifice is about 0·1 mm. for ordinary yarns, and may be as small as 0·06 mm. for fine denier multi-filament yarns.
1940 Chambers's Techn. Dict. 562/2 Multi-filament lamp, an electric filament lamp having more than one filament in the same bulb, so that failure of one filament will not cause the lamp to be extinguished.
1968 E. Miller Textiles 70 Multifilament yarns give more flexibility and cover, the finer and more numerous the filaments are in the yarn the better it is in this respect.
1993 Brit. Jrnl. Surg. 80 322/1 The purpose of the present study was to compare a monofilament continuous absorbable suture with a multi-filament interrupted absorbable suture.
B. n.
A multifilament yarn.
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the world > textiles and clothing > textiles > thread or yarn > [noun]
yarnc1000
threadc1386
Muscovy yarn1604
multifilament1944
1944 Textile Manufacturer July 306/1 We made 150/150 yarn of that type but the multifilaments could not compensate for the inherent harsh character of hosiery made from it.
1992 D. M. Muir Dust & Fume Control (rev. ed.) xi. 86 Both natural and synthetic fibres can be produced in the form of staple..monofilament..or as multifilament.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1937