paisley

From Paisley, Renfrewshire, in Scotland, where shawls of this kind were woven in the 1800s.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpeɪzli/

paisley (countable and uncountable, plural paisleys)

1. A motif of a swirling droplet.
2. A soft woollen fabric having this motif.

• boteh
• Persian pickle
• Welsh pear

paisley (not comparable)

1. Made from this fabric, or marked with this design.
   • 1886, Thomas Hardy, The Mayor of Casterbridge:

     I shall be wearing a Paisley shawl with a red centre, and thus may easily be found.

   • 2014, Ian McEwan, The Children Act, Penguin Random House (2018), page 173:

     He would be in his paisley silk dressing gown.