Tartan

Tartan fabrics

Description

A multicolor plaid pattern woven into a wool or worsted fabric. Tartans are made with pre-dyed threads to make repeating blocks of color. Since at least the 16th century, Scottish clans or families used specific designs and colors as an emblem of their group.

Synonyms and Related Terms

tartan plaid; tartane; tertane; Tartan (Deut., Fr.); Szkocka krata (Pol.)

Additional Information

° Clans and Tartans - Collins Pocket Reference, George Way of Plean and Romilly Squire, Harper Collins, Glasgow 1995.

Authority

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "tartan" Encyclopædia Britannica Premium Service. [Accessed 28 Sept. 2005].

• Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tartan (Accessed Sept. 28, 2005)

• Art and Architecture Thesaurus Online, http://www.getty.edu/research/tools/vocabulary/aat/, J. Paul Getty Trust, Los Angeles, 2000