tweed1
/twiːd
/noun [mass noun]
1A rough-surfaced woollen cloth, typically of mixed flecked colours, originally produced in Scotland: [as modifier]: a tweed sports jacket...
- Dressed in grey trousers, a black and grey patterned polo shirt, and complementary tweed sports jacket, he is short and stocky.
- Traditional homespun tweed trousers are still sometimes worn by Aran Islander men.
- This crisp striped tie will match perfectly with navy and gray suits, or light tweed suits.
1.1 (tweeds) Clothes made of tweed: boisterous Englishwomen in tweeds...
- Pretty tapestry print silky dresses are worn with sumptuous tweeds, suede, leather and velvet.
- I see them at the races, with the stout shoes, binoculars, tweeds and hats, or on horseback coming past the house, but I don't really know them.
- One approach is to go for the country look - leather boots, tweeds, twills, cashmere sweaters and maybe even a waxed coat.
Origin
Mid 19th century: originally a misreading of tweel, Scots form of twill, influenced by association with the River Tweed.
Tweed was originally produced in Scotland, where it was called tweel, a Scots form of twill (Middle English), a word based on two and like twine (Old English) indicating two-ply yarn. Around 1830 a cloth merchant misread this as tweed, a mistake perpetuated by association with the River Tweed, part of which forms the border between England and Scotland. Tweed is traditionally worn by the English country gentry, and tweedy has been used since the early 20th century to suggest a robust, traditional kind of Englishness.
Rhymes
Tweed2
/twiːd/A river which rises in the Southern Uplands of Scotland and flows generally eastwards, crossing into NE England and entering the North Sea at Berwick-upon-Tweed. For part of its lower course it forms the border between Scotland and England.