---
title: "Calico"
description: "Calico is a plain-woven cotton fabric; in Britain it usually means unbleached cotton, in the United States a cotton printed with small patterns."
type: Glossary
url: https://teazle.art/glossary/calico
published: 2026-10-14
updated: 2026-10-14
author: "The Teazle editors"
---

# Calico

*Calico is a plain-woven cotton fabric; in Britain it usually means unbleached cotton, in the United States a cotton printed with small patterns.*

Calico is a balanced [plain weave](https://teazle.art/glossary/plain-weave.md) of cotton. The name comes from Calicut (Kozhikode) on the south-west coast of India, a centre of the cotton trade that brought painted and printed Indian cottons to Europe.

## Why does the meaning change by country?

British usage kept the word for plain, often unbleached cotton, the cloth of dressmakers’ toiles. American usage shifted to printed cottons with small floral patterns. [Chintz](https://teazle.art/glossary/chintz.md) is a glazed, printed relative.


## Sources

1. [Calico (AAT 300132872)](http://vocab.getty.edu/page/aat/300132872). Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus
2. [Calico (Q1132695)](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1132695). Wikidata

Canonical: https://teazle.art/glossary/calico