Calico is a word used for several related things: a simple woven cotton cloth, a style of printed cotton fabric, and a particular tri-coloured coat pattern in cats. The term has historical roots in trade and textile manufacture and appears in place names and everyday language in different English-speaking regions.
Textile: origin and basic meaning
Originally, calico referred to plain-woven cotton cloth produced in the Indian port of Calicut (today Kozhikode). The fabric was typically lightweight and utilitarian, woven from cotton yarns in a simple over-and-under pattern. Early examples were often left unbleached or dyed, and they became well known in Europe through trade with South Asia.
Printed calicoes and commercial history
A distinctive form of the cloth is printed calico: cotton yardage on which repeating patterns (frequently floral or geometric motifs) were applied by hand-block printing, painting, or later mechanical processes. These colourful printed cottons were highly popular in Europe from the 17th century onward.
The popularity of printed calicoes was important in textile history. European competition with Indian textile imports contributed to trade tensions and to protective measures such as early 18th-century British legislation that restricted the sale and use of many imported printed cottons. Improvements in textile printing technology — including roller printing and mechanised production during the 19th century — helped spread mass-produced printed cottons and supported the growth of domestic textile industries.
Contemporary meanings and distinctions
- In many contexts today, calico describes inexpensive printed cotton fabrics used for clothing, quilting, dressmaking and household items.
- In British usage the term can also mean a plain, unbleached, coarse cotton cloth (similar to muslin or osnaburg), while in North America it more often implies a printed cotton with small-scale patterns.
- Calico is distinct from chintz: traditionally, chintz refers to glazed printed cottons with larger, bolder patterns and a glazed finish, whereas calico tends to be unglazed and patterned on a smaller scale.
Calico cats: appearance and genetics
The word calico is commonly used to describe domestic cats that display patches of three colours, usually white together with black and orange (or variations such as grey and cream). This multi-coloured pattern arises from the interaction of genes that control pigment production and patterns of cell development in the skin.
Most calico cats are female because the genes for the black-and-orange colouration are carried on the X chromosome; females (XX) can carry different colour alleles on each X, producing a mosaic pattern when X-chromosome inactivation creates patches of cells expressing one allele or the other. Male calicos are uncommon and, when they occur, often have an extra X chromosome (a condition analogous to Klinefelter syndrome in humans).
Other uses and place names
- Calico is found in geographic names: for example, a former mining settlement in southern California is known as Calico; it was established in the late 19th century and is preserved today as a historic site and tourist attraction.
- The adjective “calico” is also used informally to describe objects or animals that show a similar spotted or patchy colour pattern.
In short, calico covers a range of meanings tied to cotton fabric and distinctive spotted colour patterns. Its history links global trade, industrial developments in textile printing, and simple, popular cloths used in everyday life.