GLOSSARY
TERMS
Allocative Efficiency
Aqueduct
Ari
MEANING
When the firm combines inputs to minimize production
Costs.
One of the two silk glands. It acts as reservoir of fluid. It
along with spinning gland extracted the fluid through
spinning head to form silk yarn to build the cocoon.
One of the mostly seek stitch on silk clothing. Here a small awl
with a notch near the point is used to make embroidery in
chain stitch.
Bafta
Closely-woven silk fabric.
Bale (of Silk)
A defined quantity of raw silk. A Japanese or Shanghai
bale is the same as a Picul and contains 60 kilograms. A
European bale would be 100 kg; Canton bale 48 kg of
raw silk. Indian bale may be 20 kg.
Baluchari-
A type of silk brocade sari produced in Baluchar in the
Murshidabad district of West Bengal in the 18th and 19th
centuries, the works on this kind of sari portrays vivid
depictions of epics, warriors, religious stories, real life.
Baluchar abolished in river Ganga at the end of 19th century.
The art has been developed in Bishnupur of West Bengal and
Benaras of Uttar Pradesh.
Bave
Bias Cut
Bivoltine Races
Bivoltine Silkworm
BLEACHING
Brin
Undegummed silk thread. Bifilar thread spun by the silk
worm; it consists of two filaments (brins) that are
cemented together by silk gum or sericin.The length of
bave varies with the breed of silkworm, from 300 meters
to 1500 meters. The thickness of the bave varies from 1.8
denier to 3.0 denier.
A garment made of woven fabric is said to be "cut on the
bias" when the fabric's warp and weft threads are at 45
degrees to its major seam lines.
Originally from the temperate zone. Better quality silk can
be obtained from the cocoon produced by bivoltine
silkworm.
A silkworm which, in its natural state produces two
generations a year.
It is a Chemical process involved in eliminating harmful
micro-organisms.
The ultimate filament of silk as emanating from each
gland of the silkworm. Two brins (from each gland on
Broadcloth (Silk).
Brocade (Silk)
Brushed Silk
Brushing (Silk)
Canton Crepe Silk
Caps
Chaloni
Charkha
Charmeuse Silk
Chawki
Chawki Rearing Centre
either side of the body of silkworm) are cemented
together by gum or sericin at the spinneret of the
silkworm to emerge as a bave or silk strand.
Silk Broadcloth is a soft, lightweight silk with a cottonlike feel. It has a dull luster, with a flat, smooth surface.
An elaborate and richly figured fabric woven on a
Jacquard loom using satin weave. The warp float gives a
raised appearance. Originally woven in silk with
additional silver or gold threads, but now can be made
with man-made fibers.
Produced by gently brushing the fabric surface to pull up
fibers from the yarn, producing a luxuriously soft &
downy feel to its surface.
Act of transferring newly hatched silkworms from the
egg sheets on to the rearing trays; or act of removal of
floss from the cooked and boiled cocoons for collection
of ends for reeling.
A soft, silk fabric with a finely crinkled texture, similar
to, but heavier than, Crêpe de Chine. Takes its name from
Canton (Guangzhou), a Chinese city.
Hand spinners use this sort of fiber form to make yarn.
Silk caps are made from cultivated cocoons that have
been degummed and stretched over a frame shaped like a
bell.
It is a bamboo cocoonage used for spinning of muga
silkworms.
Indigenous crude reeling apparatus built from wooden parts.
A satin weave silk with a crepe back. Fabric is woven
with a satin weave, where the warp threads cross over
three or more of the backing threads. The front side of the
fabric has a satin finish, lustrous and reflective, and the
back has a dull finish.
The name given to a silkworm before it has cast off
itssecond skin and entered the third stage (or instar) of
itslife as a caterpillar.
Place where young age silkworms are reared
Chawki Rearing
Rearing of I, II instar silkworms.
Chiffon Silk
Chiffon literally means “rag” in French. This elegant,
sheer fabric is quite limp, with a beautiful drape. It has a
soft, supple, thin hand and a flat, crepe-like texture.
CLEANING
It is a process to remove and eliminate dust and dirt
COCOON
Protective covering of eggs, larvae etc. eggs of some annelid
are
fertilized and developed in a cocoon. Larvae of many insects
including silk worm spincocoons in which pupae develop.
The cocoon grading system in France has become the
standard for Europe and India. They are sorted into nine
different grades
Cocoon grading system
Cocoonage (Silk)
Cooking (Silk)
Cottage Basin
Crepe Fabric
Crepe Silk
Crepe de Chine
Crepe/Geogette Yarn
Crepe Yarn
Crepon
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Good Cocoons: Perfect for mechanical reeling
Pointed Cocoons: No good for mechanical reeling
Cocalons: Larger than normal
Duppions: Double cocoons
Soufflon: Loose or transparent
Perforated: Pierced or broken
Good Choquettes: Containing dead chrysalis
Bad Choquettes: Rotten cocoons
Calcinated: Containing petrified chrysalis
Appliance used for mounting mature silkworms to enable
them to spin cocoons.
The process by which silk cocoons are treated in boiling
water for a short time in order to soften the filament for
easy unwinding during the subsequent reeling process.
Indigenous improved reeling apparatus built from iron
parts.
A fabric characterized by a crinkled, puckered or pebbly
surface with highly twisted yarns in the weft and
sometimes in the warp or both.
Silk Crepe is a luxurious fabric with a good sheen and a
pebbly texture obtained by using high twist yarns.
Crepe de Chine ('krape dee sheen'), French for “Crepe
from China,” is similar to Silk Crepe, but lighter weight
and less textured fabric made with S and Z highly twisted
filament yarns alternating in the weft and with a normally
twisted filament warp.
Twisted yarn usually with 2000 to 3600 tpm (twists per
meter), generally made of two threads of raw silk.
Highly twisted yarn generally with 1200 to 4000 tpm
(twists per meter) used for producing crepe effect in
woven or knit fabrics.
A dress fabric in crepe but heavier and more rugged than
the average crepe. It is usually made with silk or rayon.
Croissure
Cuite
A technique of twisting raw silk over itself in the process
of reeling with the object of consolidating the different
filaments constituting raw silk rounding off the
angularities of the thread and squeezing off the extra
moisture and gum.
Nett silk from which the gum has been completely
removed. Also called Bright silk.
Damask
The word derives from a rich silk fabric introduced into
Europe through Damascus. A heavy jacquard fabric
woven in silk, linen, cotton, worsted wool and man-made
fibers.
Debris
It is an unward waste product.
Degumming
Denier
Disinfect
Double Cocoon
Doubling
Dressing (Silk)
Dupatta
Douppioni
Douppion Yarn
Embroidery Silk
The process of removing natural gum or sericin from silk
yarn or fabric by boiling in a soap solution.
A unit of measure by which silk yarn is weighed and its
fineness calculated. This unit expresses the linear mass
density of silk filaments (or manmade fibers and yarns)
given by weight / mass in grams per 9000 meters of
material.
The destruction and extermination of disease causing
germs.
A cocoon jointly built by two silkworms; it serves as
protective shell for both the worms during their pupal
stage of existence.
The twisting together of two or more silk threads to give
a yarn suitable for weaving, knitting etc. etc.
In the spun silk industry, the process of sorting out fibers
into groups of different lengths.
An Indian term for a kind of fine long women’s scarf or
shawl made from cotton or silk.
Douppioni Silk is a lustrous silk often woven from two
different colors of threads, so that it shimmers or changes
color in the light.
Silk formed by two worms united to spin a single cocoon
which is therefore composed of two filaments.
A loosely twisted silk or manmade fiber yarn composed
of untwisted or single yarns.
Eri Silkworm
Fare Trade Practice
Farming System
Fibril (Silk)
Fibroin (Silk)
Filature
Floss Silk
Four Ply Silk
Frison
FUMIGATION
Gabardine (Silk)
Gauze (Silk)
Georgette Silk
Grade (Silk)
There are two varieties of eri silkworm – a wild one and
a domesticated one bred on castor leaves. The filament
is neither continuous nor uniform. Hence the moths are
allowed to emerge before commencing reeling. A white
or bright red silk is produced.
Participation in different fares for promotion and
marketing of products.
Integrated set of activities that farmers perform in their
farms under their resources and circumstances to
maximize the productivity and net farm income on a
sustainable basis
An extremely fine filament produced by the longitudinal
splitting of a normal silk filament or brin.
The fiber material of raw silk thread, which is a protein
not soluble in boiling water. It constitutes about 80
percent of silk fiber.
An establishment for the production of raw (reeled) silk
from cocoons, employing modern techniques, such as
steam for heating and power for driving the reels.
Loose silk from the outer part of the cocoon, which is
retained before reeling is started and used in the
production of spun silk.
Four ply silk is a heavier version of silk crepe made with
four ply yarn. A four ply yarn is made from twisting
together four individual yarn strands.
French term for the silk waste brushed from the outer
layer of cocoons prior to reeling. Such waste is also
described as strusa (Italian), knubs (English), and kibizzo
(Japan and China).
It is a type of disinfection in the gaseous farm.
Silk gabardine is a dressy smooth twill weave fabric,
characterized by the distinct diagonal line on the fabric.
Silk gauze is a sheer, thin open weave fabric sometimes
confused with organza.
Fine, lightweight, plain weave, crêpe fabric, usually
having two highly twisted S and two highly twisted Z
yarns alternately in both warp and weft.
Classification of raw silk on the basis of tests carried out
according to standard methods in silk conditioning
houses. The qualities taken into consideration are
winding, size, tenacity, elongation, evenness, cleanness,
neatness, and cohesion.
Grainage
Graineur
Grant Reel
An establishment where disease free ‘seed’ is produced on
scientific basis.
The operator or a management of a grainage
A method of reeling a skein of raw silk in which the yarn
makes definite and regular crossings, differing from yarn
reeled in parallel rows.
Cocoons containing live pupae.
Green Cocoons
Gum Silk
Gum Sports
Gum Waste
Thrown silk from which gum or sericin has not been
removed.
Hard unwind able places in skeins of raw silk or in silk
waste, due to the presence (at the time of production) of
excessive amounts of moisture, which causes the gum to
soften and then harden to an aggregated mass of
filaments and gum.
Bits of silk collected as waste in the re-reeling of raw silk
at the filatures or during throwing and weaving. Called
Strazza in Italian or Brourre in French.
Habutai Silk
Habutai is a Japanese word meaning “soft as down.”
Habutai is a plain weave of silk, originally hand woven
of single warp yarns and filling yarns of hand-reeled silk,
which made it slightly irregular.
Hankie
Textile material in coiled form. After cocoons have been
partially degummed, the fibers are expanded and
stretched by hand over a frame forming approximate 10”
squares. Hand spinners use this form of fiber to make
yarn.
HUMIDITY
HYGIENE
HYGROMETER
Imago
It is indicates the percentage of water vapour present in the air.
It is a state where total healthy conditions are available.
An instrument used to measure humidity of the environment.
Imago is the last (adult) stage of development of an
insect, after the last ecdysis (moulting) of an incomplete
metamorphosis, or after emergence from the pupae where
the metamorphosis is complete.
INSTAR
Stage in development of an insect, between two ecyses or the
final adult stage.
Jacquard
A special fabrication in which a pattern is woven directly
into the material.A device for weaving such elaborate
designs by a machine was invented between 1801 and
1810 by Joseph Marie Jacquard (1752 -1834).
JALI
KAHAN
It is a term used for cocoonage in wild silkworm rearing.
It is one of the unit of measure in vogue in tasar industry. It
varies from State to State. It reads 1280 cocoons in Bihar,
1600 in Orissa,1000 in Madhya Pradesh and 4000 in
Maharashtra.
Kamdani
An Indian term for fine fabric with ornamentation made
with gold and silver threads.
Kashmere Silk
Silk fabric made with 2/1 right hand twill weave that
gives a soft finish
LARVA
The Pre-adult form in which same animals hatch from the egg;
capable of feeding for itself.
.
Rearing of IV and V instar silkworms.
LATE AGE REARING
Lousy Silk (Lousiness)
Matka
Momme Weight
A defect in silk yarns or fabrics consisting of little specks
caused by the fibers splitting and curling up i.e.,
fibrillation of the silk filaments.
Matka is an Indian term for rough handloom silk fabric
made from very thick yarns spun out of pierced cocoon in
the weft and organize in warp.
Japanese unit of measurement traditionally used to
describe weight of silk fabric.
The usual range of momme weight for different weaves
of silk are:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Charmeuse
Chiffon
Crepe de Chine
Gauze
Georgette
Habutai
Organza
Raw Silk
12 to 22 mm
6 to 8 mm (can be made in
double thickness, i.e. 12 to 16
mm)
12 to 18 mm
3 to 5 mm
8 to 12 mm
5 to 16 mm
4 to 6 mm
35 to 40 mm (heavier silks
appear more ‘wooly’)
Monovoltine Cocoon
Sometimes referred to as univoltine. A breed of silkmoth
that produces only one generation per year. Found in
temperate regions, this breed hatches only in the spring.
Moriculture
The form of sericulture that deals with mulberry silk
only.
Moulting (Skin Shedding)
MUGA SILK
Muga Silkworm
Multiend Basin
Multivoltine Races
Multivoltine Silkworm
Mulberry Silkworm
Silkworms moult (shed their skins) four times from a
silkworm into a larger silkworm and then once more
when fully grown into a pupa within the cocoon.
The golden yellow silk spun by multivoltine Antheraea species
feeding on castor oil plant.
Found only in Assam. It feeds on two local species of
shrubs – Machilus bombycina and Litsae polyantha,
producing a strong, golden yellow thread.
A modern reeling machine
Reared in tropical climatic conditions. They are very hardy
and tolerant to high temperature but are less productive.
A silkworm which generates more than two (usually 5-6)
generations a year.
It is the most common among the different types of
silkworms, contributing to nearly 95% of world’s silk
production. It is produced from the cocoons of the moth
Bombyx mori.
Narrow Fabric
Woven fabri c generally not exceeding 45 cm (18 in) in
width.
Native Silk
Native silk is a very coarse silk yarn in the order of 30/35
denier and 56/70 denier, generally reeled from inferior
cocoons. The reeling process is the same as in the case of
raw silk.
The degree of neatness of raw silk panels, determined on
the basis of incidence of defects which are smaller than
those classified as ‘minor cleanness defects’ by using
official standard photographs for neatness. Neatness is
expressed as percentage.
Neatness
Neps
Nett Silk
Noil (Silk)
Oak tasar
Small bundle of tangled undeveloped fibers. The
undeveloped fibers do not take dyestuff, and thus neps
appear as small white dots in fabric.
Raw silk filaments or strands which have been processed
into yarns by twisting or folding, or both.
Silk Noil (sometimes incorrectly called raw silk) comes
from the use of very short fibers (called, appropriately,
'silk noils') to weave the fabric. The word Noil actually
refers to fiber length.
Tasar cocoons produced from the tasar silk worms reared
on oak trees in hilly areas .
Organza Silk
Peau de Soie (also called Duchess
Satin)
Pongee
Silk Organza is a sheer, thin open-weave fabric that is
heavier and crisper than silk gauze. It has a smooth, flat
finish, is strong and durable, and gets its stiffness from
tightly twisted yarns. Often used as the base fabric for
embellished fabrics.
French for ‘skin of silk,’ Peau de Soie is a stout, soft silk
with fine cross ribs. A medium weight fabric with satiny
finish, it looks like Charmeuse, but Peau de Soie has a
moderately stiff drape.
A plain woven, thin, naturally tan silk fabric that has a
rough weave effect.
Pupa
A pupa (Latin pupa for doll, pl: pupae or pupas) is the
life stage of some insects undergoing transformation. The
pupal stage is found only in holometabolous , those that
undergo a complete metamorphosis, going through four
life stages; embryo, larva, pupa and imago.
Pruning
Cutting the parts of trees and its branches.
Raw Silk
Continuous filaments or strands containing no twist, as
drawn off or reeled from silk cocoons.
The cocoon to raw silk ratio: the weight of cocoons required
to produce a kilogram of raw silk
Renditta
Saplings
Trees at their infancy.
Schappe Silk
Spun (not reeled) silk yarns that have been degummed by
a lengthy and very smelly fermentation process.
Scroop
The peculiar scrunching or rustling sound silk acquires
when treated with certain organic acids (such as acetic
and formic acid).
A gelatinous protein usually comprising 20 30 per cent of
raw silk by mass, cementing the two fibroin filaments in a
silk fibre. The protein is removed through boiling.
Sericin
Sericteries
Sericulture
Shantung (Silk)
Modified salivary glands or silk glands on the mouthpart
of the larvae.
Rearing of silkworms for the production of raw silk.
A douppioni type of silk that comes from Shantung
province in China. This fabric is woven from wild silk.
Shot Silk
A fabric wove n with different colored warp and weft
thread so as to make a tinted or iridescent appearance.
Silk Cocoon
An egg-shaped casing of silk spun by the silkworm to
protect itself in its dormant stage as a pupa.
It is a quality assurance label for the assurance of pure silk
and in Silk addition serves as a brand for generic promotion of
pure silk .
Silk Mark
Silk Mark Labels
A paper hang tag on which a high security hologram is affixed.
The hologram contains an unique serial number which can be
identified for its unauthorized user and period of use.
Silk Road
Silk Waste
World’s longest trade route for silk
The fibres remaining after drawing off, reeling or throwing
silk, and fibres obtained from damaged or unreel able
cocoons.
Glandular opening on the silkworm where the silk is
extruded.
Spinneret
Spun Silk Yarn
The weak filament of the transparent silken envelope
remaining from the reeling process – as well as the
damaged, discolored, or imperfectly shaped cocoons –
become the raw material for lustrous, creamy colored
spun silk yarn.
STERLIZE
It is a process to get rid of microbes by boiling or other means.
Tana yarn
The wrap yarn spread length wise in a silk fabric.
Tasan
The process of making silk yarns harden and weighted with
starch, gum, boiled rice extracts. It makes the silk yarn fit for
weaving.
The form of Sericulture deals with tasar cocoons produced by
tasar silk worms.
A wild type silk spun by Antheraea species feeding on
Terminalia or Quercus leaves.
Tasar silk worms are wild. The Indian Tasar worm
feeds on trees of Terminalia species along with oak trees
and other minor host plants, while the Japanese and Chinese
worms feed on oak and other allied species.
Tasar Culture
Tasar Silk
Tasar Silkworms
Technical Efficiency
When the firm obtains the maximum level of output from
the chosen input combination.
Throwing
The process which links the production of raw silk with
weaving. Individual filaments of de-gummed silk are so
fine that they become separated if not twisted or thrown.
Throwing will strengthen silk for weaving, particularly in
the preparation of warp yarn, and also increase the
diameter and denier of a silk yarn, depending on the type
and weight of fabric to be woven. Throwing consists of
the following four operations, each requiring special
machinery:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Thrown Silk
Thrown Singles
Tram
Twill (Silk)
Bobbin winder
Uptwister
Ring doubler
Hank winder
Silk thread consisting of two or more singles twisted
together like a rope, in a direction contrary to that in
which the singles of which it is composed are twisted.
Silk thread or cord made by three processes of twisting;
first into singles, two or more of which are twisted
together making dumb singles, and several of these
twisted together to make thrown singles.
Tram is medium twisted thread formed by twisting 2 to 3
silk yarns together with low twists of l00 to l50 tpm
(twists per meter). It is moderately strong, soft, has a
good hand (feel), and is mostly used as weft.
Made from silk yarns woven in a twill weave which gives
the fabric a soft hand and high durability.Twill, a textile
weave in which the filling threads pass over one and
under two or more warp threads to give an appearance of
diagonal lines.
Univoltine-
The silk worm which passes through only one cycle giving one
generation within a year.
Varna yarn
Cross threads taken over and under wrap yarn. It is known as
weft yarn.
Velvet (Silk).
Silk velvet is a soft, elegant fabric that looks and feels
expensive. It drapes better than other velvet, falling close
to the body. The silk velvet mostly available is silk rayon
combination: rayon pile on a silk base (often in an 80-20
ratio respectively). 100% silk velvet is rare and expensive
The practice formerly used to compensate for the loss of
the sericin weight during silk processing. Usually done
with tin salts, gums, starch, boiled rice extract, etc.
Weighted Silk
Wild silk-
Silk obtained from tassar, muga and eri silkworms .