Percale[1] is a closely woven
plain-weavefabric often used for
bed covers. Percale has a
thread count of about 140 or higher and is noticeably tighter than twill or sateen. It has medium weight, is firm and smooth with no gloss, and washes very well. It is made from both
carded and
combedyarns, and may be woven of various fibers, such as
cotton,
polyester, or various blends.[2]
Percale was formerly imported from India in the 17th and 18th centuries,[9] then manufactured in France.[10]
Etymology
The word may originate from the
Persian: پرگاله : pargālah, meaning rag,[11][12] although the Oxford English Dictionary (as of December 2005) has traced it only as far as 18th-century French. The dictionary of the
Institut d'Estudis Catalans describes pexal and perxal as some kind of silk fabric in the year 1348 in
Valencia.[13] The etymological dictionary of Catalan explains perxal as derived from
Perche in France.[14]
^How India clothed the world: the world of South Asian textiles, 1500–1850, volume 4 of Global Economic History series, p. 440, Giorgio Riello, Tirthankar Roy, Om Prakash, published by Brill, 2009,
ISBN978-90-04-17653-9.
^Jennifer Speake, ed. (1999).
"percale, noun". The Oxford Essential Dictionary of Foreign Terms in English. Berkley Books. Retrieved 18 December 2007. {{
cite book}}: |website= ignored (
help)
^"percale, n. and adj.", Draft Revision Dec. 2005, Oxford English Dictionary
^"percale", The American Heritage Dictionaries, at
answers.com
^A comprehensive Persian-English dictionary: including the Arabic words and phrases to be met with in Persian literature, being, Johnson and Richardson's Persian, Arabic, and English dictionary, revised, enlarged, and entirely reconstructed, The World's Most Detailed and Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary, Francis Joseph Steingass, Asian Educational Services, 1992.
ISBN978-81-206-0670-8
^Diccionari Aguiló: materials lexicogràfics / aplegats per Marià Aguiló i Fuster; revisats i publicats sota la cura de Pompeu Fabra i Manuel de Montoliu, page 134,
Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Barcelona 1929.
^Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana: O-Qu.- 1986, cop. 1985.- 977 p, page 464, Joan Corominas, Joseph Gulsoy, Max Cahner, Curial Edicions Catalanes, 1995.
ISBN978-84-7256-276-9