selvage
/ˈsɛlvɪd͡ʒ/
selvage noun: 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.
Noun
selvage (countable and uncountable, plural selvages)
- 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.
- Any edge of fabric finished so as to prevent raveling.
- Her stately limbs the gather'd folds surround, / And spread their golden selvage on the ground.1803, Erasmus Darwin, The Temple of Nature, The Gutenberg Project, published 2008
- 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.
- A distinct border of a mass of igneous rock. It is usually fine-grained or glassy due to rapid cooling.
- Clay-like material found along and around a geological fault.
- The edge plate of a lock, through which the bolt passes
- That part of a lode adjacent to the walls on either side.
Verb
selvage (third-person singular simple present selvages, present participle selvaging, simple past and past participle selvaged)
- To give a selvage to (fabric).
Proper noun capitalized: Selvage
Selvage (plural Selvages)
- A surname.
selvage meaning in Telugu and Sanskrit
selvage in Telugu
- selvage, skirt, border
- అంచలము añcalamu
selvage in Sanskrit
- selvage, edge, border
- पाश pā́śa
Forms of selvage
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | selvages |
| alternative form | selvedge |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | selvages |
| present participle | selvaging |
| past participle | selvaged |
| past | selvaged |
| Proper noun | |
| plural | Selvages |
| alternative form | Salvidge |
| alternative form | Selvidge |
Origin of selvage
From early modern Dutch selfegghe (Modern Dutch zelfkant (“selvage”)), equivalent to self + edge.
Questions about selvage
- What does selvage mean?
- Selvage means 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.
- What is selvage in Telugu?
- Selvage in Telugu is అంచలము (añcalamu). See Selvage meaning in Telugu.
- What part of speech is selvage?
- Selvage can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
- How do you pronounce selvage?
- Selvage is pronounced /ˈsɛlvɪd͡ʒ/.
- What is the plural of selvage?
- The plural of selvage is selvages.
Words near selvage in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: selvage (page history and authors); Selvage (page history and authors); అంచలము (Telugu) (page history and authors); पाश (Sanskrit) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-selvage.ogg.
Cite this entry: “selvage.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/selvage. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.