A

Abrash: Dye Lot changes in the yarn show up as a different shade of color in the rug. Subtle abrash in tribal or village rugs enhances the folk art look. Major abrash in workshop rugs is considered a defect in dye control.

All –over pattern: Continuous design throughout the field of the rug.

Antique Finish / Wash: A modern chemical washing procedure that produces softer tones or antiques the rug to simulate aging.

Asymmetrical Knot: A knot that may be open to the right or the left. Also known as Persian or Senneh knot.

Aubusson: A flat weave, pileless rug predominantly made in China and India, featuring a floral medallion with curvilinear floral borders and soft pastel colors.

Abrash: The word used to describe the variations in color found within a single color in an Oriental rug. It refers to the hue or color change found on many older rugs, particularly those rugs woven by nomad tribes. While abrash is commonly seen in tribal nomadic rugs and in some modern Oriental rugs are intentionally woven with the color variation. The variations in color are usually the result of inconsistent dyeing of the wool, or through the introduction of a new wool batch while weaving the carpet. Generally some abash is desirable in tribal carpets and very undesirable in "city" carpets.

Afshar: A Turkic speaking nomadic and settled people living mostly in southern Iran. The Afshar make mostly small rugs and saddlebags, animal trappings. Tones of deep blue, red, gold and ivory are most often encountered in Afshar rugs

All-over design: A term used to describe the pattern of rugs whose fields have no central medallion. An even repeating design throughout the field.

Aniline dyes: Synthetic dyes first invented (discovered) in 1856 by William Perkins. The term is now used to describe any synthetic dyes used in Oriental or Navajo rugs.

Antique Wash: A chemical or natural process that tones down colors and to simulate aging.

Arabesque: An ornate curving design of intertwined floral and vine figures often seen in intricate workshop rugs such as those from Isphahan, Tabriz, Nain and Qum.

Art Silk: Short for artificial silk, it is usually mercerized cotton, rayon or polyester that appears to be silk. Oftentimes artificial silk rugs are sold as real silk.

Asymmetrical Knot: "Persian" of "Senneh" knot. A pile knotting technique where only one or the two warps is completely encircled. See Oriental rug knots.

Aubusson: Fine flat carpets woven in France from the 15th to 19th Centuries. A term used to describe modern rugs that use similar designs and colors.

B

Border: A design around the edge of a rug, surrounding the field. The border usually includes a wide band with a repeating design, called the main border.

Boteh: A pear-shaped figure often used in Oriental rug designs: Characteristic of the paisley pattern, the Boteh may represent a leaf, bush, or pinecone.

Bakhtiari: The Bachtiari confederation is a large and powerful group, covering much of central and southwestern Iran. Small rugs, saddlebags and trappings are woven by nomadic Bachtiaris, while large carpets are woven by the settled tribes people. The most familiar pattern is the garden design consisting of repeated squares or diamonds, each of which encloses a tree or floral motif. The name translates roughly as "the lucky ones".

Baluch: A large group of nomadic tribespeople living in Afghanistan and eastern Iran who weave many types of small rugs, animal trappings and tent furnishings. They favor deep tones of blue, dark brown, dark red and touches of natural ivory.

Bokhara: The capitol of Uzbekistan and the traditional trading center for Turkmen tribal carpets. Today, rugs called Bokhara are usually make in Pakistan using Tekke Turkoman designs.

Boteh: This is a motif in stylized form representing either a pine cone, a palmetto, the sacred flame of Zoroaster or a Cypress tree. Sometimes called a Paisley Pattern. Seen in many types of Oriental rugs.

Brocade: Weft float weave used to add design and embellishment. Often seen on the kilim bands at the ends of oriental rugs.

C

Carding: The combing of fibers with wire bristle brushes prior to spinning.

Cartoon Mapping: A grid on paper with colored spaces to guide rug weavers in the execution of a rug’s design.

Carving: The process of shearing around a design or symbol to enhance the look of the rug. This is commonly done in some Chinese and Tibetan rugs.

Chemical Washing: Rugs may be washed in chemical solutions to soften colors, to increase the luster of fibers and to lend the pile a softer “hand” or feel.

Colorfast: Describes a dye that is stable to both light and washing.

Combing: The process of preparing wool fibers for spinning by sorting them in the same direction.

Crushing: The loss of pile thickness as a result of foot traffic.

Carding: The task of pulling the wool fibers between two spiked paddles in order to arrange the fibers in a random manner. It is a first step before combing which positions the fibers in a parallel arrangement.

Cartoon: This is a diagram of the rug design that weavers follow when knotting an oriental rug. Used in workshop rugs and in some village rugs.

Cartouche: An oval shaped ornamental design element usually containing an inscription or date.

Classical: A vague term referring to court carpets produced prior to the 19th century.

Cloudband: A stylized depiction of a cloud resembling a band knotted at its collar. Originally a Chinese design but is often seen in Persian Oriental rugs.

Combing: Drawing the already carded fibers through a set of spiked blocks in order to align the fibers in a parallel arrangement. This is done prior to spinning.

D

Dragon: A Chinese motif symbolizing good fortune. The dragon is sometimes rendered in a geometrical form with only the head portrayed realistically.

Dhurrie: A low cost flatwoven rug from India.

E

Edge Wrap: The sides of the rug are wrapped with thick yarn to secure the outer edges. This should be done during the weaving process.

Embroidery: The use of a variety of different needle-worked stitches to decorate fabrics.

F

Field: The part of a rug’s design surrounded by the border. The field may be blank or contain medallions or an all-over pattern.

Flat weave: Any Rug woven without a knotted pile.

Foundation: The combination of warps and wefts in the body of a rug.

Fringe: Warps extending from the ends of a rug, which are treated in several ways to prevent the wefts and knots from unraveling.

Farsi: The official language of Iran. Also known as Persian.

Field: The main section of the rug that is surrounded by the boarder and contains the central medallion or other motifs.

Flatwoven: A rug made without knotted pile.

Fringe: The excess warp threads extending from the end of the rug sometimes finished in macramé style knotting.

G

Ghiordes knot: See “Symmetrical knot.”

Glide Reflections: Rigid motion with reflected repetition along a line.

Gul: A medallion, either octagonal or angular in shape, used in Turkman Designs. It is often repeated to form an all-over pattern in the field. AND Gul: This is an octagonal motif, usually elongated and divided into four. The word means "rose or flower".

Guard stripes: Bands which surround and enhance the main border. A thin stripe used to highlight guards and to separate them from the beginning of the field.

H

Hand made: Any rug constructed by hand.

Hand tufting: A form of hooking: yarns are pushed though the foundation of a rug (usually canvas) with a tufting gun to form a pattern.

Hali: A Turkish word for rug.

Halicilik: A Turkish word for rug merchant.

Handle: The weight and stiffness or flexibility of a rug. A rug´s handle might be described in terms such flexible, stiff, of soft.

Herati design: This is a design feature often found in carpets from Persia. Usually four leaves are woven around a well-defined diamond. This is sometimes referred to as the "Fish Design" but this design does not really represent fish.

I

Interlacing: Atiyeh rugs used a multi-color wool-yarn interlaced within the flat selvage at two ends. The purpose is function, not form. Years into the future (75-100), if the fringe is worn away by use, this interlace will secure selvage and alert the owner it is time overcast this are

J

Jufti knot: A knot tied over four warps instead of the usual two.

K

Kerman: a city and province in Southeastern Iran where Atiyeh rugs were first produced. The name Kerman also refers to our design style of rugs we now produce in China.

Kilim: A flat weave pileless rug woven using the tapestry technique. Commonly decorated with geometric patterns and bright colors, these rugs are usually used in high traffic areas like kitchens and game rooms

Kork: Any fine wool

Knots: The wrapping around the warps of the yarn (usually wool) threads, the ends of which project to form the pile of the rug.

Knots per square inch: Number of knots per square inch rates the knot quality in hand knotted rugs. Usually noted by the K.P.S.I. designation (i.e., K.P.S.I. 240).

Kufic Script: A term for the bold, rectilinear calligraphic script which became highly stylized and used as decorative elements rather than text.

L

Lines: Some mass produced Chinese rugs graded by line count which indicates the number of knots per lineal foot. For other characteristics of rug quality you should consider the variables of wool quality, weaving construction, pile height or the number of top colors.

Loom: A wooden structure that holds the warp and weft threads for weaving the rug. It can be vertical or horizontal. The height and width of the loom determines the rug size. AND Loom Frame or machine used for interlacing two or more sets of threads or yarns to form a rug or other textile.

Lobe: A rounded division frequently found in medallions and in border ornaments.

Lozenge: A diamond shaped parallelogram or rhombus.

M

Matting: The result of the untwisting of the yarn and intermingling of the yarn tips as a result of foot traffic.

Medallion: The large enclosed portion of a design, usually in the center. Typical shapes are diamonds, octagons, ovals, and hexagons. AND Medallion Large design found in the center in some oriental rugs.

Mihrab: Typical design of a prayer rug derived from the niche or chamber in a mosque.

Motifs: Single or repeated design elements found throughout the rug.

N

Nap: Top or body of the rug where the knot ends are cut. Rugs have nap direction caused by the knotting direction. Often a tightly knotted rug will look light at one end and dark from the other end.

Needlepoint: A flat weave, pileless rug woven using a stitch similar to a cross-stitch. Mainly produced in China, workers peer through the canvas to follow the design, Which is spread out flat underneath it. Workers stitch directly onto the canvas.

Node: One loop of a pile knot around a warp as seen from the back of the rug.

O

Oriental Rug: A hand knotted piled or flat woven fabric made from natural fibers (most commonly wool or silk.)

Overcastting: A process by which selvedges are wrapped or interwoven with a yarn that is not part of the foundation weft.

P

Patina: The mellowing of the surfacing appearance of a rug usually with age or use. Can also be achieved with chemical washes.

Pattern: Foundation of the rug design.

Persian knot: See “Asymmetrical knot.”

Pile: The nap of the rug or the tufts remaining after the knotted yarns is clipped. Most rugs have wool pile, while some have silk or a combination of silk and wool pile.

Power loomed: Machine made rug

Pile: A rugs surface, formed by the creation of knots in the foundation. Nap.

Pile weave: A term used to refer to the structure of knotted carpets and rugs forming a pile or nap. Wool, silk, or sometimes cotton is knotted around the warp in a variety of techniques.

Prayer rug: A small Oriental rug used by Muslims to kneel on when reciting their prayers. It should be noted, however that most prayer rugs were woven for the foreign market.

Pushti: A small mat measuring about 2 x 3 feet.

Q

Quatref: Round symmetrical ornaments with four lobes.

R

Raj: Iranian rugs use a knot count based upon raj. This is the number of lineal knots in 7cm.

Reflection: A rigid motion with repetition across a line (axis).

Root Names: When Persian designs are produced in China the word Sino precedes it in a description e. g.: Sino-Persian. If a Kerman design is produced in China it is called Sino-Kerman. The same is true with other countries’ production such as India When Indo precedes the descriptive name.

Rotation: Rigid motion with repetition around a point.

Runners: Usually rugs measuring not more than 3 to 4 ft. wide and ranging from 8 to 20 ft. in length.

Raj: Number of knots per 7cm. (2 3/4 inches). Twenty four raj would be approximately 76 knots per square inch.

Reciprocal design: A motif in contrasting colors but a consistent repeating pattern. Borders often have reciprocal designs.

Rosette: A motif resembling an open flower consisting of a circular arrangement of parts around a center.

Runner: A long, narrow rug used mostly for hallways and staircases. Usually under three feet wide.

S

Scatter rug (throw rug): Any small rug under 3’ x 5’. Usually used as kitchen, bathroom, or front door rugs.

Scouring: The washing of wool to remove unwanted lanolin and other impurities.

Selvedge: The edge warps of a rug and the foundation weft around those warps.

Serging: a method of finishing edges of area rugs by using heavy, colored yarn sewn around the edges in a close, overcast stitch.

Shearing: The professional removal of a sheep’s wool.

Silk: Comes from the cocoon of silkworms. Because it is an expensive fiber it is less frequently used as a pile material in handmade rugs than wool.

Soumak: A flat weave, pileless rug woven from a technique that produces a herringbone effect. This special weaving technique is also known as weft wrapping. Soumaks generally have a mixed cotton and wool foundation with geometric and brightly colored design. This weaving method is also used to produce storage bags, cradles, and other every-day necessities.

Spin: The direction of a yarn’s twist.

Staple: The average length of fibers in a yarn.

Symmetrical knot: A knot tied on two warps: also known as the Ghiordes or Turkish knot.

Saf: A prayer rug containing multiple prayer niches.

Safavid Dynasty: Persian Dynasty ruled by Shah Abbas from 1587 to 1628 AD.

Sarouk: Factory woven carpets woven in the vicinity of Sultanabad (Arak) in west central Iran. Named for a small town north of Sultanabad. Nearly all were exported to the United States.

Shahsavan: A confederation of Turkic speaking tribes living in Azerbaijan. They are known for making sumak bags and kilims.

Slit Tapestry technique: A technique commonly used on Kilims where the weft threads turn back at the meeting of different color areas. It is easily recognizable by the small gaps which appear where there are color changes.

Spandrel: An ornamental treatment located at the corners of the field.

Strapwork: An interlacing design resembling straps.

Sumak: A type of flat-weave rug using a weft wrapping technique to form the face and pattern of the rug.

T

Talim card: A written description of the numbers of pile knots and their colors needed to create a specific design. Used in the execution of a rug’s design.

Tea Stain: See Antique Finish/Wash

Tibetan knot: A distinctly different knot. Tibetan rugs are woven by wrapping a continuous length of yarn over a rod laid across the warps stretched on the loom. When the rod has been wrapped for its entire length, a knife is slid along the rod, cutting the wrapped yarn into two rows of pile tufts.

Translation: Rigid motion with repetition along a line.

Turkish knot: See “Symmetrical knot”

Turn-arounds: Reversals in direction of the new wefts. Tapestry: A hand-woven wall hanging with a flat weave, usually characterized by complicated pictorial designs. It also refers to weft face weave.

Tea Wash: A procedure used to soften the colors of a rug and give it the appearance of age.

Tekke: The largest Turkomen tribe in the 19th century who made some of the finest Turkomen rugs.

Village rugs: Rugs made in villages or in small workshops. The designs respond to the current market needs to a limited degree. There is usually no elaborate cartoon or diagram drawn before the rug is woven.

W

Warp: Comprising the foundation, parallel warp yarns run the length of the rug, and are interlaced with wefts.

Warp-faced: A rug in which warps are more closely spaced that wefts and wefts are concealed. In a balanced plain weave rug, warps and wefts are equally visible.

Washing: See Antique Finish/Wash

Weft: The yarns woven horizontally through the warps.

Weft twining: A weft wrapping method in which two wefts pass across warps, twisting together after each wrap or at regular intervals.

Whip stitch: A stitch used to overcast and lock the final weft in rug ends.

Wool: The soft wavy or curly undercoat of various hairy mammals, especially the sheep.

Woolen: A wool yarn of mixed staple that has been carded. Fibers are neither as long nor as parallel as worsted yarn. The average length of woolen yarn is shorter than 3 inches.

Worsted: A process that occurs prior to spinning, whereby wool yarns are firmly twisted from combed fibers that are longer than three inches in length. This process improves the wool’s quality by leaving only the longer pieces of fiber for final spinning.

War Rugs: Usually refers to rugs woven by Afghani Baluch people during the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. These rugs show the weapons of war, including tanks, guns and helicopters

Warp: Threads of yarn that extend through the entire length of the rug, on which the weaver ties the knots. The lengthwise or vertical threads.

Weft: Threads of yarn that run across the width of the rug. The widthwise or horizontal threads in a rug, passed over and under the warps to form the foundation of a pile rug or the design of a flat woven rug.

Y

Yarn: A continuous, often plied strand composed of either natural or man-made fibers or filaments. Used in weaving and knitting to from cloth.

Yuruk: The Turkish term used to describe any nomad living in Turkey.

Z

Zaronim: A rug measuring about 3' x 5'. A zar is about one square meter so a zaronim is a square meter and a half.