Monday Word: Heddle
Feb. 9th, 2026 06:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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1word1dayheddle [hed-l]
noun
one of the sets of parallel cords or wires that with their mounting compose the harness used to guide warp threads in a loom
examples
1. Dr. H. G. Harrison by no means overstates the case when he says that the development of the heddle is the most important step in the evolution of the loom (Harniman Museum Handbooks, No. 10, pp. 47-49). Ancient Egyptian and Greek Looms, 1890
2. Holding a heddle rod to separate the warp threads, she draws the continuous horizontal weft thread in and out of one or more warp threads. 1 Oct 2022. Scientific American. "Viking Textiles Show Women Had Tremendous Power."
origin
probably alteration of Middle English helde, from Old English hefeld; akin to Old Norse hafald heddle, Old English hebban to lift
noun
one of the sets of parallel cords or wires that with their mounting compose the harness used to guide warp threads in a loom
examples
1. Dr. H. G. Harrison by no means overstates the case when he says that the development of the heddle is the most important step in the evolution of the loom (Harniman Museum Handbooks, No. 10, pp. 47-49). Ancient Egyptian and Greek Looms, 1890
2. Holding a heddle rod to separate the warp threads, she draws the continuous horizontal weft thread in and out of one or more warp threads. 1 Oct 2022. Scientific American. "Viking Textiles Show Women Had Tremendous Power."
origin
probably alteration of Middle English helde, from Old English hefeld; akin to Old Norse hafald heddle, Old English hebban to lift
