selvage

English

A selvage.

Etymology

A corruption from early modern Dutch selfegghe (Modern Dutch zelfkant ‎(“selvage”)), equivalent to self +‎ edge.

Pronunciation

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Noun

selvage ‎(countable and uncountable, plural selvages)

1. (weaving) The edge of a woven fabric, where the weft (side-to-side) threads run around the warp (top to bottom) threads, creating a finished edge.
2. Any edge of fabric finished so as to prevent raveling.
   • 1803, Erasmus Darwin, The Temple of Nature^[1], The Gutenberg Project, published 2008:

     Her stately limbs the gather'd folds surround, / And spread their golden selvage on the ground.

3. (printing) The excess area of any printed or perforated sheet, such as the border on a sheet of postage stamps or the wide margins of an engraving.
4. (geology) A distinct border of a mass of igneous rock. It is usually fine-grained or glassy due to rapid cooling.
5. (geology) Clay-like material found along and around a geological fault.
6. The edge plate of a lock, through which the bolt passes.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Knight to this entry?)

Translations

finished edge of a woven fabric parallel with warp

• Dutch: zelfkant (nl) m
• Finnish: hulpio (fi)
• Ido: bordumo (io)
• Portuguese: bainha (pt) f
• Russian: кро́мка (ru) f ‎(krómka)

• Scottish Gaelic: balt m
• Spanish: orillo (es) m
• Swedish: stad (sv) c, stadkant (sv) c

any finished edge of fabric

excess area of printed or perforated sheet

• Finnish: reunus

geology: distinct border of a mass of igneous rock

• Finnish: hulpio (fi)

geology: clay-like material along and around a geological fault

edge plate of a lock