calico

• callico (archaic)

From Calicut, in India, from where the cloth was originally exported, from Malayalam കോഴിക്കോട് (kōḻikkōṭŭ, “Kozhikode”), from കോഴി (kōḻi, “palace”) + കോട് (kōṭŭ, “fortified palace”), with ‘y’ replaced by interchangeable ‘zh’.

• IPA^(key): /ˈkælɪkəʊ/

• Audio (Southern England)

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calico (countable and uncountable, plural calicos or calicoes)

1. (textiles) A kind of rough cloth made from unbleached and not fully processed cotton, often printed with a bright pattern.
   • 1832, Michael Faraday, “Experimental Researches in Electricity”, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, volume 122, →DOI, →JSTOR, page 126:

     This helix was covered with calico, and then a second wire applied in the same manner.

   • 2017 June 30, Ruth La Ferla, “In ‘The Beguiled,’ Pretty Confections Whipped Up to Seduce”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     Trussed in corsets, jawbone-high collars and calicos that had seen better days, they have little enough to work with, their attempts at coquetry further constrained by their rigid mores of the day.

2. (countable, zoology) Ellipsis of calico cat.
   • 2022, N. K. Jemisin, The World We Make, Orbit, page 111:

     One of them, a calico whose half-grown kittens he just fed, slow-blinks at him, an affectionate gesture.

3. (uncountable) The plant disease caused by Tobacco mosaic virus.

calico

1. Made of calico or resembling the color of calico cloth, having a pattern of red and contrasting areas; variegated.

   Synonym: tortoiseshell

   The calico cat had distinctive red and dark markings.

   The calico-patterned tablecloths were supposed to make the restaurant look rustic; instead, they made it look run down.

   • 1976, Bob Dylan (lyrics and music), “Sara”, in Desire:

     Sara, oh Sara / Scorpio Sphinx in a calico dress

• calico (textile) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• calico cat on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

• accoil, acocil, calcio-

Borrowed from English calico or French calicot.

calico n (uncountable)

1. calico