Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having a wavy or rippled surface pattern. Used of fabric.
  • noun Fabric, such as silk or rayon, finished so as to have a wavy or rippled surface pattern.
  • noun A similar pattern produced on cloth by engraved rollers.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To give a variety of shades to, by the moiré métallique process of tin-coating.
  • In finishing cotton goods, to stamp a fabric so as to produce a watered or moiré effect, for which various methods are employed.
  • noun Same as moire, 1.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To give a watered or clouded appearance to (a surface).
  • noun A watered, clouded, or frosted appearance on textile fabrics or metallic surfaces.
  • noun Erroneously, moire, the fabric.
  • noun a wavy pattern of lines produced by the superposition of two patterns having closely spaced, often curved, lines, so that the lines of the two patterns intersect at an acute angle. When the superposing patterns are moved relative to the observer or relative to each other, a shimmering effect is produced in which the apparent pattern changes, often producing a pleasing artistic effect. The effect may be seen, for example, when the superposed folds of a sheer fabric, such as a window curtain, are observed with transmitted light.
  • noun (Printing) an interference pattern produced by the dots of a color printing process.
  • noun a superior kind of thick moire.
  • adjective Watered; having a watered or clouded appearance; -- as of silk or metals.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A pattern that emerges when two grids are superimposed over one another, usually unintended and undesirable in many applications such as in weaving and screenprinting.
  • noun Watered silk.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from past participle of moirer, to water, from mouaire, moire, moiré fabric, probably alteration of English mohair.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

French moiré ("watered, clouded")

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word moiré.

Examples

    Sorry, no example sentences found.

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.