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Glite Dictionary
Harris Tweed

Harris Tweed

7.7
Handwoven cloth made from new wool on islands in northwest Scotland
  • noun
translation icon : Harris Tweed
  • How about a nice Harris Tweed with a blue oxford button-down?

Examples

  • I love wearing my warm Harris Tweed coat during the chilly Scottish winters.

  • The tailor suggested a beautiful Harris Tweed fabric for my new suit.

  • Many people appreciate the unique patterns of Harris Tweed that reflect Scottish culture.

Synonyms

tweed
vsHarris Tweed
26 4.4

A rough, thick cloth made from wool with small colored spots used for jackets and coats

is a specifically handwoven cloth from the Outer Hebrides made of pure virgin wool

Surface Forms

Harris Tweed singular
Harris Tweeds plural

Morphology

Harris + tweed

The compound combines a place-name ('Harris') with a fabric type ('tweed'), so a learner who knows both words will reasonably infer it means a kind of tweed associated with Harris. While the precise legal/production details (handwoven in the Outer Hebrides from virgin wool) are specialised and not deducible, the basic meaning 'a type of tweed from Harris' is transparently compositional and cross-linguistically familiar.

Etymology

Harris Tweed gets its name from the Isle of Harris in Scotland, where island families have long woven local wool by hand on simple looms to make strong, patterned cloth. That's why Harris Tweed now means 'a special handwoven wool fabric' made on those islands.