FABRIC


Meaning of FABRIC in English

I. ˈfabrik, -rēk noun

( -s )

Etymology: Middle French fabrique, from fabriquer to fabricate, from Latin fabricari, from fabrica artisan's workshop, skillfully wrought object, building — more at forge

1.

a. : a product of building (as a house or ship)

four high houses … of the sort lane-dwellers call fabrics — Daniel Corkery

b. : underlying structure : framework

the work of restoring the fabric of Westminster Abbey — Conrad Voss Bark

the very fabric of daily life

whether the political fabric had the strength to withstand war — S.E.Morrison & H.S.Commager

2. obsolete : contrivance , device ; especially : a military engine

3. : an act of constructing : construction , erection ; specifically : the construction and maintenance of a church building

4.

a. : structural plan or style of construction

the whole complex fabric of flowers and floral organs that makes up the head of a composite plant

soil fabric (arrangement of the constituents of the soil in relation to each other) — L.D.Baver

b. : texture , quality — used chiefly of textiles

a linen cloth of fine silky fabric

c. : the form of the planchet of a medal or coin

a coin with thick fabric

5.

a. archaic : something made by man : artifact , product

the earliest fabric of the Venetian glassblowers

b. : cloth 1 a

c. : cloth of a particular kind

satin is a fabric with a smooth shining surface

or for a particular use

a sheer curtain fabric

d. : a material (as leather or woven wire) that in some respect resembles cloth

6. : a place devoted to manufacture : factory

the chief shapes manufactured in this fabric were bowls — V.G.Childe

7. : structural material

the more usual fabric was timber or coursed masonry

using a fabric of silken threads the spider builds her web

8. : the appearance or pattern that is produced by the shapes and arrangement of the crystal grains or of these with glass in a rock and that includes those orientation features which are not evident from grain shape alone

II. transitive verb

( fabricked ; fabricked ; fabricking ; fabrics )

Etymology: French fabriquer

obsolete : frame , build , construct

Webster's New International English Dictionary.      Новый международный словарь английского языка Webster.