Standard Lemma guide

twill

noun · verb · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /twɪl/
  • [twɪɫ]
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • rhymes with -ɪl
  • homophone: 'twill
  • CMU ARPABET: T W IH1 L Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A pattern, characterised by diagonal ridges, created by the regular interlacing of threads of the warp and weft during weaving.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

Topics: business, manufacturing, textiles, weaving

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

A cloth or portion of cloth woven in such a pattern.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: countable, uncountable

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

To weave (cloth, etc.) so as to produce the appearance of diagonal lines or ribs on the surface.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

a cloth with parallel diagonal lines or ribs

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fabric, cloth, material, textile

5

noun

Meaning 5

a weave used to produce the effect of parallel diagonal ribs

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: twill weave

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: weave

6

verb

Meaning 6

weave diagonal lines into (textiles)

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: weave, tissue

History

Etymology

PIE word *dwóh1 From Middle English twyll, twylle, from Old English twilīċ (“two-threaded”), a partial calque of Latin bilix, bilic-, from bis (“twice”) + licium (“thread”).

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: sarja — weaving pattern
  • Chinese Mandarin: 斜紋 /斜纹 (xiéwén) — weaving pattern
  • Czech: kepr — weaving pattern
  • Dutch: keper — weaving pattern
  • Finnish: toimikas — weaving pattern
  • French: sergé — weaving pattern
  • German: Köperbindung — weaving pattern
  • German: Köper — weaving pattern
  • Hungarian: sávoly — weaving pattern
  • Irish: corrán — weaving pattern
  • Italian: saia — weaving pattern
  • Japanese: 綾織 — weaving pattern
  • Quechua: khata — weaving pattern
  • Russian: са́ржа (sárža) — weaving pattern
  • Russian: твил (tvil) — weaving pattern
  • Scots: tweel — weaving pattern
  • Spanish: sarga — weaving pattern
  • Catalan: sarja — type of cloth
  • Czech: kepr — type of cloth
  • Finnish: toimikaskangas — type of cloth
  • Finnish: tvilli — type of cloth
  • German: Köper — type of cloth
  • Irish: corrán — type of cloth
  • Italian: saia — type of cloth