fabric definition | Dictionary.com

fab⋅ric

[fab-rik]

–noun

1.	a cloth made by weaving, knitting, or felting fibers: woolen fabrics.

2.	the texture of the woven, knitted, or felted material: cloth of a soft, pliant fabric.

3.	framework; structure: the fabric of society.

4.	a building; edifice.

5.	the method of construction.

6.	the act of constructing, esp. of a church building.

7.	the maintenance of such a building.

8.	Petrography. the spatial arrangement and orientation of the constituents of a rock.

Origin:
1475–85; (< MF fabrique) < L fabrica craft, esp. metalworking or building, workshop. See forge ¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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Language Translation for : fabric

Spanish:

tela, tejido,

German:

der Stoff,

Japanese:

織物

View 30 other languages »

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fab·ric (fāb'rĭk) Pronunciation Key
n.

1. A cloth produced especially by knitting, weaving, or felting fibers.
2. The texture or quality of such cloth.
3. A method or style of construction.
4. A structural material, such as masonry or timber.
5. A physical structure; a building.
A complex underlying structure: destroyed the very fabric of the ancient abbey during wartime bombing; needs to protect the fabric of civilized society.
1. A method or style of construction.
2. A structural material, such as masonry or timber.
3. A physical structure; a building.

[Middle English fabryke, something constructed, from Old French fabrique, from Latin fabrica, craft, workshop, from faber, fabr-, workman, artificer.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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fabric

1483, "building, thing made," from M.Fr. fabrique, from L. fabrica "workshop," from faber "artisan who works in hard materials." Sense evolved via "manufactured material" (1753) to "textile" (1791). Fabricate is c.1450, from L. fabricatus, pp. of fabricare "to fashion, build," from fabrica. In bad sense of "to tell a lie," etc., it is first recorded 1779.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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fabric
noun
1.	artifact made by weaving or felting or knitting or crocheting natural or synthetic fibers; "the fabric in the curtains was light and semitransparent"; "woven cloth originated in Mesopotamia around 5000 BC"; "she measured off enough material for a dress"
2.	the underlying structure; "providing a factual framework for future research"; "it is part of the fabric of society" [syn: framework]

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Fabric

Fab"ric\, n. [L. fabrica fabric, workshop: cf. F. fabrique fabric. See Forge.]

1. The structure of anything; the manner in which the parts of a thing are united; workmanship; texture; make; as cloth of a beautiful fabric.

2. That which is fabricated; as: (a) Framework; structure; edifice; building.

Anon out of the earth a fabric huge Rose like an exhalation. --Milton. (b) Cloth of any kind that is woven or knit from fibers, either vegetable or animal; manufactured cloth; as, silks or other fabrics.

3. The act of constructing; construction. [R.]

Tithe was received by the bishop, . . . for the fabric of the churches for the poor. --Milman.

4. Any system or structure consisting of connected parts; as, the fabric of the universe.

The whole vast fabric of society. --Macaulay.

Fabric

Fab"ric\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Fabricked; p. pr. & vb. n. Fabricking.] To frame; to build; to construct. [Obs.] "Fabric their mansions." --J. Philips.