Percale

History

Moris or mauris was the 18th-century French term used for percale, the cloth imported from India. It was a cotton cloth. Moris was the third most exported fabric from Coromandel Coast after Longcloth and Salampore. It was superior and finer quality than the peers. Coromandel coastline forms a part of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Moris was produced at Nellore, Arni, Maduranthakam, and Cuddalore. Palakollu. The cloth was famous as painted chintz in southeast countries also.

Percale was formerly imported from India in the 17th and 18th centuries, then manufactured in France.

Etymology

The word may originate from the : pargālah, meaning rag, 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. The etymological dictionary of Catalan explains perxal as derived from Perche in France.

References

References

1. ''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, {{ISBN. 978-90-04-17653-9.
2. [https://web.archive.org/web/20080113152355/http://www.dotmaison.com/magazine/fabrics-glossary/ "Fabric Glossary"]. ''Dotmaison'' magazine.
3. Wellington, Donald C.. (2006). "French East India Companies: A Historical Account and Record of Trade". Hamilton Books.
4. Wingate, Isabel Barnum. (1979). "Fairchild's dictionary of textiles". New York : Fairchild Publications.
5. (1986). "Merchants, Companies, and Commerce on the Coromandel Coast, 1650-1740". Oxford University Press.
6. (2007). "Journal of Indian History". Department of Modern Indian History.
7. Amrith, Sunil S.. (2013-10-07). "Crossing the Bay of Bengal". Harvard University Press.
8. (2009-07-31). "How India Clothed the World: The World of South Asian Textiles, 1500-1850". BRILL.
9. (1999). "The Oxford Essential Dictionary of Foreign Terms in English". Berkley Books.
10. "percale, ''n. and adj.''", Draft Revision Dec. 2005, Oxford English Dictionary
11. "percale", ''The American Heritage Dictionaries'', at [http://www.answers.com/percale&r=67 answers.com]
12. 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. {{ISBN. 978-81-206-0670-8
13. 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.
14. 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. {{ISBN. 978-84-7256-276-9