Khaki

US Army uniform
MFA# 2011.193

Description

A tan to yellowish brown color cloth usually made from a strong, twill-weave cotton drill material. First used for military uniforms in India in 1848, khaki is the East Indian term for "dusty". The durable fabric was also used for tents, backpacks, and blank book covers. In the late 20th century, khaki became a popular fabric for casual pants.

Synonyms and Related Terms

drill; caqui (Esp.); kaki (stof); kaki(kleur; kaki uniform (Ned)

Resources and Citations

• G.S.Brady, Materials Handbook, McGraw-Hill Book Co., New York, 1971 Comment: p. 283

• Rosalie Rosso King, Textile Identification, Conservation, and Preservation, Noyes Publications, Park Ridge, NJ, 1985

• Matt Roberts, Don Etherington, Bookbinding and the Conservation of Books: a Dictionary of Descriptive Terminology, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington DC, 1982

• Random House, Webster's Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language, Grammercy Book, New York, 1997

• Fairchild's Dictionary of Textiles, Phyllis G.Tortora, Robert S. Merkel (eds.), Fairchild Publications, New York City, 7th edition, 1996

• The American Heritage Dictionary or Encarta, via Microsoft Bookshelf 98, Microsoft Corp., 1998

• Encyclopedia Britannica, http://www.britannica.com Comment: "Khaki." (Accessed 4 Sept. 2004).

• Edward Reich, Carlton J. Siegler, Consumer Goods: How to Know and Use Them, American Book Company, New York City, 1937