---
title: "Denim"
description: "Denim is a sturdy cotton twill woven with a dyed warp, traditionally indigo, and an undyed weft."
type: Glossary
url: https://teazle.art/glossary/denim
published: 2026-10-14
updated: 2026-10-14
author: "The Teazle editors"
---

# Denim

*Denim is a sturdy cotton twill woven with a dyed warp, traditionally indigo, and an undyed weft.*

In denim the warp is dyed, classically with [indigo](https://teazle.art/glossary/indigo.md), and the weft is left white. Because the weave is a warp-faced [twill](https://teazle.art/glossary/twill.md), the face shows mostly blue and the back mostly white, which is why worn denim fades to pale blue.

## Where does the name come from?

It is usually traced to “serge de Nîmes”, a twill from Nîmes in southern France, though historians dispute how direct the link is. Jeans, from Genoa, is a separate fabric name that later merged with denim in everyday use.


## Sources

1. [Denim (AAT 300014068)](http://vocab.getty.edu/page/aat/300014068). Getty Art & Architecture Thesaurus
2. [Denim (Q652698)](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q652698). Wikidata

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