Name: Persian Gallery New York
Address: 36 East 31st Street Suite 500, New York, NY, 10016
Telephone: (212) 683-2699

Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z

Abrash	\|	A graduated or transitional change in the color of a rug,seen as darker or lighter striations of hue, due to differences in either the wool or dye batch.
Afshar	\|	A Turkic speaking nomadic tribal group in the mountains south and west of Kerman in southern Persia; weavers of excellent pile rugs.
Allover Design	\|	A term used to describe a rug a design repeated throughout the field, usually without a central medallion.
Angora Wool	\|	A supple yarn or fabric made from the fleece of the Angora goat. Considered by many to be finer and softer than traditional wool. See "Mohair."
Aniline Dye	\|	A synthetic dye often used in rugs, as opposed to natural VEGETABLE or VEGETAL dyes. See CHEMICAL DYES.
Antique Carpet	\|	A carpet that is approximately 80-100 years old or older. Older carpets typically have more subdued colors, and a certain patina of age to them.
Antique Wash	\|	A washing procedure that softens the colors of a rug to give it an antique look.
Arabesque	\|	Ornate curving design featuring intertwined floral and vine figures, often seen in intricate workshop rugs such as those from Tabriz, Isfahan, Nain and Qum.
Art Deco	\|	Rugs from the Art Deco design period, roughly from the 1920s to 1930s. Typically refers to Chinese or European carpets.
Art Silk	\|	Also called artificial silk; refers to the use of processed (mercerized) cotton as a substitute for silk.
Asymmetrical Knot	\|	The Persian (Farsibaff) or Senneh knot. The asymmetrical knot is formed by thread going around two warps and fully encircling only one of them; it then passes behind the back and one side.
Aubusson	\|	Fine flat-woven French carpets, usually with floral medallions and pastel colors. Produced in France from the 15th - 19th centuries.
Audience Rug	\|	See "Triclenium Rug."
Axminster Rug	\|	First produced in the 1880's, machine-made rugs were mechanically woven to a flexible cotton frame and having up to 70 colors of wool.

Baft (aka: Baff)	\|	The word for "Knot" in Farsi (Persian).
Baktiari	\|	Named for the Iranian tribal peoples who produced them; rugs noted for durable construction, and typically featuring a repeated square-grid motif with floral detailing.
Band-Eh Kenareh	\|	Heavy selvage warps in a pile rug.
Bending Wefts	\|	Alternate warps are seen to be depressed from the back of the rug. Warps may be offset to the extent that one warp may lie on top of another.
Beshir	\|	Turkmen tribe affiliated with the Ersari; it is also the main weaving center in the Amu Darya valley.
Border	\|	The outer element that encloses and frames the central field design. It is sometimes said to represent a window overlooking the infinite.
Boteh	\|	A pear-shaped figure often used in oriental rug designs, and is characteristic of the paisley pattern. The boteh may represent a leaf, bush or a pinecone.
Brocade	\|	Weft float weave used to add design and embellishment. Often seen on the kilim bands at the ends of oriental rugs
Broken Border	\|	See "Meandering Border."

Carding	\|	A process in the preparation of raw wool (or other fibers) for spinning accomplished by drawing it repeatedly across rows of small metal teeth.
Cartoon	\|	A grid on paper with spaces colored to guide rug or tapestry weavers in selecting pile yarns to execute a rug or tapestry design. A blueprint for how the final product should look.
Cartouche	\|	Oval-shaped ornament incorporated into the rug design, often containing a signature, date, or inscription
Carved Pile	\|	Design or pattern cut or "embossed" into the pile of a rug. Common in Chinese and Tibetan carpets.
Caucasian	\|	Rugs that were woven in the Caucasus region between Iran and Russia, mostly in Azerbaijan.
Chain Stitch	\|	A crochet stitch used in rug construction that consists of successive loops to lock the final weft in place at the end of a rug.
Chemical Dyes	\|	Modern synthetic dyes used in rugs woven after 1935. See ANILINE DYES.
Chintamani	\|	Ottoman court motif of three balls above two cloudbands. Also referred to as the Badge of Tamarlane.
Cloudband	\|	A curving, horseshoe-shaped motif originating in China, representing clouds.
Cochineal	\|	Deep red dye obtained from the dried bodies of a type of insect. This was a primary source of red dye in rugs with natural dyes.
Combing	\|	Process for orienting wool in the same direction, before it is spun.

Depressed Warps	\|	Refers to the warp depression created by the tension given by the weft. In extreme cases the second warp will be behind the first one.
Dhurrie	\|	A flatwoven rug from India, usually made of cotton or wool.
Divari	\|	Vertical carpet loom.
Djidjim (aka: Jijim)	\|	A flatweave of several narrow strips sewn together.
Dozar	\|	A rug size, about 4.5ft. by 6.5 ft. One "Zar" is a unit of measure, and "Dozar" means two "Zars," so twice as big as a single "Zar."

Elem	\|	Additional, often ornamented end border, appearing at one or both ends of different Turkmen pieces.
Embossed	\|	A process of carving around a design or symbol to enhance the look of the rug. Commonly done in some Chinese and Tibet rugs.
Endless Knot	\|	A Buddhist motif made up of a pair of continuously interlaced lines, symbolizing long life or duration. It is often used in conjunction with other symbols.
Ensi (aka: Engsi)	\|	Turkmen term for a rug employed as a tent-door cover.
Ersari	\|	A large sub-tribe of the Turkmen distributed along the Amu Darya valley and in northwest Afghanistan. Weavers of a distinct type of Turkmen carpet, named after the tribal group.

Farsh	\|	The Farsi (Persian) term for an oriental rug or floor covering.
Farsibaff	\|	The Farsi (Persian) term for an asymmetric or Persian knot.
Field (aka: Matn)	\|	The main, central part of the carpet design composition. Sometimes also know as the ground. Usually enclosed within a decorative border.
Figure-Eight Stitch	\|	An overcasting stitch used for selvages, containing two or more warps or warp bundles. The "8" is the path of the overcasting yarn as it passes around the warps.
Fish Design	\|	See "Herati design."
Flat-Weave	\|	Describes a rug that has a flat pile or no pile. Styles include Dhurrie, Kilim and Soumak.
Float	\|	In a plain weave, the process of carrying a weft over two or more adjacent warps or carrying a warp over two or more adjacent wefts.
Flosh	\|	Mercerized cotton polished to look like silk. Sometimes referred to as "Turkish silk." Rugs made of mercerized cotton.
Foundation	\|	The combination of warps and wefts that compose the body of a rug, and upon which the wool is knotted.
Fringe	\|	Warps extending from the foundation at the ends of a rug. These warps are treated in various ways to prevent wefts and knots from unraveling.

Gabbeh	\|	A long-piled, coarsely woven rug style with a simple colorful design. Originally used as mattresses. Also, often used as a generic term for a tribal rug.
Garden Design	\|	Usually found in Baktiari carpets; repeating compartments with botanic motifs, thought to represent the layout of an ideal Persian garden, with flower beds and streams.
Gereh	\|	The Farsi (Persian) word for "Knot."
Ghashgai (aka: Qashqai)	\|	Rugs woven by a group of nomadic tribes in southern Persia, speaking a Turkish dialect.
Ghedjebeh (aka: Kejebe)	\|	A tent-like enclosure for the bride on the back of a camel in a Turkmen wedding procession.
Ghermes	\|	The Farsi (Persian) word for "red." It can also refer to the red dye prepared from a scale insect, Coccul ilicis, which infests oak trees.
Ghiordes Knot	\|	See "symmetric knot" or "Turkish knot."
Guard Borders (aka: Bala-Khachi)	\|	Narrow borders that come in pairs on either side of a main border, either to cpmplement or enhance the main border design.
Gul	\|	An octagonal or angular medallion often used in Turkoman designs, looking like an elephant's foot. It is often repeated to form an all-over pattern in the field.

Hali (aka: Ghali)	\|	Another word for a carpet or oriental rug.
Hand-Spun Wool	\|	This refers to wool that was processed by hand. Some people prefer the minor imperfections in hand-spun wool over the uniformity of machine-spun wool.
Handle	\|	Impression given by the texture of a rug when touched; generally, it refers to the quality of the surface, the feel when gripped, and the consistency of the back.
Handmade Rug	\|	A rug that is either entirely hand-knotted (or hand-tufted) and usually made of wool, and which may also include the addition of silk. The opposite of machine-made rugs.
Harshang (aka: Kharchang)	\|	A "crab design" seen on some Caucasian and Northwest Persian rugs, composed of a polylobed palmette alternated to an almond-shaped cartouche with split-leaf arabesques.
Hatchley	\|	A design found in some Turkemen rugs, featuring a cross formed by the four panels of an Ensi.
Heibeh (aka: Gheibeh Or Kheibeh)	\|	A saddle bag.
Herati	\|	An allover "fish design" seen on many Persian rugs, composed of small leaves connected to a small diamond. Some say it recalls the myth of the world sitting atop the back of a giant turtle.
Heriz	\|	A city on the North West Persian border between Iran and Azerbaijan, from which a popular type of rug with geometric designs and medallions emanate.
Hooked Rug	\|	A hooking device pushes and loops yarn through a canvas, producing either a loop hook or latch hook rug.

Ikat	\|	A process in which fabric designs are created by tie-dyeing warps and/or wefts before they are used on the looms. Also, the fabric produced by this process.
Indigo	\|	Different blue shaded dyes obtained from the leaves of the indigo plant.

Jofti Knot	\|	A 'False' knot, either Turkish or Persian, which is tied onto four warp threads instead of the normal two. This time-saving knot lessens the quality and the amount of material in a rug.
Jolam	\|	See "Tent Band."
Jute	\|	A fiber from the stem of the plant, Corchorus capsularis. Jute has been used in the pile of rugs from India, and in the foundation of many coarsely woven carpets. Not as strong a fiber as wool.

Kaleghi (aka: Gallery Rug)	\|	A long, narrow carpet in which length is at least twice the width, 5 ft. x 15 ft., for example. Usually at least 4' wide, and wider than runners, which are usually under 4' wide.
Kapanuk	\|	A pile fabric decoration for the inside of Turkmen tent doors.
Kartak	\|	Carpet trimming knife.
Kashmir	\|	Upscale carpets made of either silk or mercerized cotton from the Islamic region of India; woven with a Persian knot.
Kazak	\|	Referring to the Turkish-style rugs produced by the peoples of Kazakhstan and of the general Caucasus region.
Kenareh	\|	The Farsi (Persian) term for a runner, usually 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 ft. wide, and at least twice as long. For example, 3' x 10'. Narrower than a Kaleghi.
Khorjin	\|	Double-sided saddlebag.
Kilim (aka: Kelim, Gilim, Or Gelim)	\|	A pileless, smooth-surfaced weaving in which pattern is formed by the wefts, which completely conceal the warps. A type of flat-weave common in Persian nomadic tribes.
Knap	\|	The brush-like surface of the rug, created when the knot loops are cut.
Knot	\|	A knot is formed when wool, cotton or silk yarn is looped around the warp threads. There are different procedures for knotting and each knot type has a name, for example there is a Turkish/Ghiordes knot & a Persian/Senneh knot.
Knots Per Square Inch	\|	The number of knots per each square inch of the carpet. Many people use the knots per square inch as an indicator of the fineness or quality of a rug.
Knotted Pile	\|	The type of weaving most associated with oriental rugs, in which tufts of wool forming pile are wrapped around one or more (usually two) warps, creating a variety of surface designs.
Kork Wool	\|	The very finest quality wool, obtained from the shoulder and flanks of shearling lambs.
Kufic	\|	Border designs that are thought to be derived from an Arabic script.
Kurd	\|	A type of tribal Persian carpet made by Kurdish tribes people. The Kurdish people inhabit a mountainous area of Southwest Asia which includes parts of Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria.

Lachak Torang	\|	A design with corner and central medallions. This is one of the most defining design styles of traditional oriental rugs.
Lazy Lines	\|	Diagonal lines visible on kilims or on the back of a rug, caused by the discontinuity of the weft, or by interruptions in the weaving process.
Line Count	\|	The number of horizontal knots per linear foot. As with the knot count, or knots per square inch, a higher line count is usually considered an indicator for a finer or higher quality rug.
Loom	\|	Normally a wood structure that the carpet is woven on. Some looms are vertical, whereas others are horizontal.
Lur (aka: Lori)	\|	A type of tribal carpet woven by black-tent tribal nomads in Southern Persia, particularly in the northern and central Zagros mountains.

Macrame	\|	Fringe. Used to describe off-loom weaving and knot work. From the Arabic for "knot."
Madder	\|	A red dye extracted from the root of the madder plant, Rubia tinctorium, commonly used to give red hue to wool used in oriental rugs. "Alizari" is Arabic for madder.
Mafrash	\|	A small bag, often with a pile face. A traveling or bedding bag.
Mahi Design	\|	See "Herati design."
Main Border	\|	See "Border."
Makoh	\|	A weaver's shuttle, used for passing the wool or yarn between the successive warp threads, in order to create a pile design.
Manchester Rug	\|	An oriental rug using Manchester or Merino wool.
Manchester Wool	\|	See "Merino Wool."
Matn	\|	The ground or field of a rug. See "Field."
Mazarlek	\|	A Turkish carpet with representations of trees and houses. Some believe such carpets are used to enfold the dead when they are being carried to a cemetery.
Meandering Border (aka: Broken Border)	\|	Any of a wide variety of continuous border designs that do not fill the band they occupy completely, but rather alternate from side to side.
Medallion	\|	A central ornament, usually having a rounded, circular, oval, or star shape; mainly in the center of the field, however, it can also be used as a vertical repeat in an allover pattern.
Mercerized Cotton	\|	Cotton thread whose strength and gloss has been increased by treating with alkali under pressure.
Merino Wool	\|	A breed of sheep producing very fine wool. The merino was first raised in Spain. Australian merino wool is used in some rugs from Iran and India. "Manchester" is type of fine merino wool.
Mihrab	\|	An arch in a prayer rug, representing the prayer niche in a mosque. Muslims often kneel on the mihrab of a prayer rug as they perform their prayers.
Millefleurs	\|	A design composed of many flower blossoms, often occupying the field of a prayer rug or a tapestry. Literally, "a thousand flowers."
Mina Khani	\|	An infinitely repeating floral pattern made up of a large flower head with four small flowers.
Mir-E-Boteh	\|	A design of multiple rows of botehs.
Miyan Farsh	\|	The middle carpet in the traditional Persian multi-rug arrangement called a Triclenium Rug. See "Audience Rug" or "Triclenium Rug."
Mohair	\|	A type of Angora Wool often used in carpets and home furnishings. See "Angora Wool."
Mordant	\|	A product used in dyeing that reacts with the dye and fiber to fix the dye permanently to the fiber. Different mordants produce different hues and shades from the same dye.
Morghi	\|	"Morgh" is the Farsi (Persian) term for a hen. "Morghi" refers to an oriental rug with a design employing the images of chickens or hens.
Mori	\|	A term describing the weave of certain Pakistani and Indian rugs, specifically the absence of warp offset in these rugs.
Mughal	\|	Rugs reflecting the designs and aesthtics of the Mughal, a Mongol dynasty that dominated India from the 16th to 19th centuries.
Muska	\|	A triangular design, supposed to have magical properties, derived from the shape of a pouch used to carry Koranic inscriptions or religious or shamanistic relics.

Nakhsheh	\|	The Farsi (Persian) term for pattern or design.
Nap	\|	A variant spelling of "Knap." See "Knap."
Naskheh Do'A	\|	The Farsi (Persian) term for an oriental rug with a prayer design, or a mihrab.
Nassakh Befendeh	\|	Weaver.
Natural Dyes (aka: Vegetable Or Vegetal Dyes)	\|	Dyes sourced from traditional plant and mineral sources. Some of the most widely used dyes in carpets are Indigo (blues) and Madder (reds).
Natural Rug	\|	Often refers to an earth-toned rug, the identifying feature of which is its composition with natural materials (sisal, jute or wool).
Node	\|	One loop of a pile knot around a warp, when viewed from the back of a rug.

Odjaghlik	\|	A rug used in front of a fireplace. A fireplace is called an "odjagh."
Okbash	\|	Tent pole cover.
Oriental	\|	An Oriental rug or carpet, usually handmade of natural fibers (most commonly wool or silk), with a pile woven on a warp and weft, with individual character and design.
Overcasting	\|	The technique of rounding the wool edges of the vertical sides of a rug to prevent the edges from fraying.
Oxidized	\|	The mellowing of colors after prolonged exposure to sun. With excess sunlight exposure, rug colors can change from reds and blues to a brown or black color.

Painted Rugs	\|	A process of actually painting the rug to improve its look. Also if you touch-up worn areas with markers. The translation of "Rang Shodeh."
Palas	\|	A type of Caucasian flat-weave rug.
Palmette	\|	A large floral ornament frequently occurring in Persian art and on Persian carpets; it has either the shape of a richly composed blossom or of a similarly constructed leaf.
Panel Design	\|	See "Garden Design."
Pardeh	\|	Tent cover or curtain. See "Ensi."
Pashm	\|	The Farsi (Persian) term for wool.
Patina	\|	The aesthetic of mellowed colors on the surface of rug, indicating its age or its previous use.
Persian Knot	\|	(aka@ SENNEH KNOT or ASYMMETRIC KNOT) A knot looped around one thread with only a half-turn around the other thread.
Persian Yarn	\|	A soft-spun, three-ply yarn made up of medium-twist two-ply yarns.
Pile	\|	The knap of the rug, or the surface tufts remaining after the knotted yarns threaded through the warp and weft have been shorn.
Pile Weave	\|	The structure of knotted carpets and rugs forming a pile or knap; wool, silk, or cotton are knotted around the warp in a variety of techniques.
Pillar Rug	\|	A Chinese pile rug designed to be wrapped around a pillar or column.
Plain Weave	\|	Used to describe a weave in which the warp and weft are of equal tension and spacing. The warp and weft are equally visible from the surface.
Ply	\|	Two or more yarns spun together make a ply or plied yarn.
Prayer Rug	\|	Typically a small rug with an arch motif (mihrab) at the top of the field, used by Muslims for kneeling on during prayer. The prayer arch represents the arch of a mosque. See "Naksheh Do'a" and "Mihrab."
Programmed Rugs	\|	As opposed to individually designed and woven oriental rugs, these are a series of rugs woven with the exact same design, but in different sizes.
Provenance	\|	The source or origin. For rugs and tapesries, provenance refers to when, where, and from whom the item was sourced. Often an indicator of authenticity or prestige.
Pud	\|	Weft.
Puh	\|	A row of knots in a carpet.
Pushti	\|	Persian term for a scatter rug, normally 2 x 3.

Qali (aka: Ghali, Hali)

A rug, usually larger than 6 ft. by 9 ft. See "Hali."

Rang	\|	Dye, color.
Rang Shodeh	\|	A painted rug. It literally translates to "it has taken color." See "Painted Rugs."
Rang-Raz	\|	Dyer.
Re-Fringe	\|	The repair of the fringe of rug, often by using the selvedge or another part of the same rug.
Rufu	\|	Repair. When repairs are necessitated for a rug, repairmen try to do them so well that it should not be evident.
Runner	\|	A long, narrow rug, usually under four feet wide and more than twice as long, primarily used in hallways and on staircases. See "Kenareh."
Running Dog	\|	A reciprocal crenellation motif, often seen on the outer borders of rugs from Persian and the Caucasus.

S-Spun	\|	Yarn spun in a clockwise direction. The diagonal in the "S" suggests the direction of spin.
Saddle Bags	\|	Two bags or pouches connected so they can be thrown over the back of a horse or donkey. The outside faces may be pile while the inside faces are flatwoven.
Saf (aka: Saff, Saph)	\|	A prayer rug containing multiple niches in a row, sometimes referred to as a family prayer rug.
Safavid	\|	Refers to rugs made during the Safavid dynasty in Persia between 1500 and 1730.
Saffron	\|	Natural dye use to obtain a yellow color.
Saijadeh	\|	Another name for a prayer rug.
Salt Bag	\|	A bag of distinctive shape used to store salt or grain, and often having a pile face.
Sarouk	\|	Curvilinear carpets woven in the Sarouk region of Persia/Iran, that were especially popular in the U.S. in the 1930s - 1950s.
Savonnerie	\|	Carpets with a French design, usually woven with a thick pile with pastel colors. The name is based on the words "soap house," in which these carpets were originally woven.
Seljuk	\|	The carpets of a Turkish-speaking tribe that was prevalent in areas between the Bosphorus and the western borders of China in the late 11th and 12th centuries.
Selvedge	\|	The flat-woven area between the edge of a rug and the fringe. The selvedge is the same material used to form the warp and weft. A design can be added to the selvedge to enhance the look of a rug.
Semi-Antique Carpet	\|	A carpet that is approximately 30-80 years old. Not as old as an antique carpet, but not a brand new rug either.
Senneh Knot	\|	See "ASYMMETRIC KNOT" or "PERSIAN KNOT."
Sezar	\|	Three zars. A rug approximately 7.5 ft. x 5 ft.
Shahsavan	\|	The carpets of a Turkish-speaking tribal group originating in North West Persia, formerly inhabiting parts of Southern Caucasus.
Shed	\|	The opening formed through the warps when alternate warps are raised to permit the shuttle and weft to pass through the warps. There is one shed for each set of warps.
Shoot (aka: Shot Or Pick)	\|	A weft or the passage of a weft through a shed.
Shotori	\|	Camel-colored or naturally brown sheep wool.
Siding	\|	Edging on non-fringed sides of a rug. Binding that keeps the sides of a rug intact.
Silk Weave	\|	A tapestry weave in which wefts of different colors reverse direction on adjacent warps.
Singles Yarn	\|	An unplied yarn consisting of fibers all spun in the same direction.
Sinuous Weft	\|	When warps are offset or depressed, wefts are alternately straight or bending in their passage through the warps. The bending weft is termed a "sinuous" weft.
Skein	\|	A coil of yarn.
Sofreh	\|	A type of flat-weave adopted by tribesmen from Persia and the Caucasus, used as a ground cloth upon which meals are eaten.
Soumak	\|	A flat-piled rug using a special weaving technique known as weft wrapping, usually resulting in a herringbone motif.
Spandrel	\|	Designation of the corner parts of a prayer rug, located to the left and the right of the prayer arch, or mihrab.
Spanish Knot	\|	A pile knot on a single warp. This knot is thought to have originated in North Africa.
Spin	\|	The relative direction of twist of yarns, "Z" spun or "S" spun.
Staple	\|	The average length of fibers in a yarn.
Stretching (aka: Sizing)	\|	The process of straightening the uneven sides of a rug. Starch or glue added to yarns or fabrics to increase their smoothness, stiffness or bulk.
Supplementary Weft Float Patterning	\|	Ornamentation of a ground fabric with supplementary wefts, continuous from selvage to selvage, that skip over two or more adjacent warps.
Suzanduz	\|	A needlework patterning on flat-woven rugs, often relatively coarse in execution.
Suzani	\|	An embroidered needlework, often silk or cotton, used as wall hangings and bed covers.
Symmetrical Knot	\|	The Ghiordes or Turkish (Turkbaff) knot; the thread forming the knot fully encircles two (or even three) warp threads, and then reappears between them.

Talim	\|	A written description of the numbers of pile knots and their colors to create a specific design. Used in the production of factory rugs.
Tamgas	\|	Nomadic livestock brand which may also be a tribal emblem woven into rugs.
Tapestry	\|	Flat-woven wall hangings, primarily from Europe, often featuring verdant, historical, mythological, or religious design settings.
Tapestry Weave	\|	Any variety of weaves where the pattern is created by ground wefts that do not run from end to end.
Tapestry Yarn	\|	A 4-ply, hard-spun yarn.
Tarr	\|	Warp. See "Warp."
Tekke	\|	The tribal weavings of the titular Turkmen tribe. Typically more refined than other tribal weavings.
Tent Band (aka: Jolam)	\|	Tent bands, visible from the inside of Turkmen tents, serve both functional and decorative purpose.
Torba	\|	Small Turkmen bag hung inside the tent and used for storage.
Tounn	\|	Warp. See "Warp."
Tribal Rug	\|	A term used to describe a rug from tribal weaving groups, usually geometric and/or primitive in design. Often used interchangeably with the word "Gabbeh."
Triclenium Rug (aka: Audience Rug)	\|	A traditional multi-rug arrangement, with multiple rugs being sewn adjacent to each other within the same carpet, with the middle one being the Miyan Farsh.
Tufted Rug	\|	A rug in which tufts of wool are punched through a base fabric. The underside of the base is then painted with latex glue and covered with a backing material.
Turkish Knot (aka: Turkbaff Or Ghiordes Knot)	\|	See "symmetric knot."
Turkmen	\|	The tribal group based in Turkmenistan, in northeastern Iran and north Afghanistan.
Twill	\|	A basic diagonal weave in which warps consistently skip 2, 3, 4 or 5 wefts or wefts consistently skip 2, 3, 4 or 5 warps.

Uzbek

A tribal name referring to a nomadic people claiming Mongol descent and speaking a Turkic language.

Vagireh	\|	A sampler rug, with previews or samples of different rug designs.
Vakif	\|	The Islamic practice of giving land, rugs or other assets to the mosque.
Vardelik	\|	Typically a small rug used as a wall hanging. Silk rugs are often used in this manner.
Vase Design	\|	Carpets with a field filled by flowers and tendrils or a lattice, with a vase located at one or both ends of the rug.
Vegetable Dyes (aka: Natural Or Vegetal Dyes)	\|	Dyes derived from insects or from the earth, including madder, indigo, and cochineal, among others.
Verneh	\|	A type of Caucasian flatweave rug.
Village Rug	\|	A type of rug that is partially influenced by the style of the court carpets from urban centers, while incorporating certain tribal styles. A kind of cross-over between city rugs and tribal rugs.

Warp	\|	The longitudinal threads fixed to the loom before weaving begins, which form a basic part of the structure. Also known as "Tarr" or "Tounn."
Warp Faced	\|	In a balanced plain weave, warps and wefts are equally visible. In a warp faced fabric, warps are more closely spaced than wefts and wefts are concealed.
Warp Offset (aka: Warp Depression)	\|	A set of warps can be held in a plane by tight supporting wefts (cable wefts) while alternate warps are permitted to lie in another plane.
Washing	\|	Rugs may be washed in chemical solutions to soften their colors and to increase luster.
Weft (aka: Woof)	\|	Wefts are yarns woven horizontally through warps by means of a shuttle. Wefts are horizontal or crosswise yarns when the fabric is viewed on a loom.
Weft Chaining	\|	A weft wrapping technique similar to crochet work in which weft loops are pulled through each other as they pass around warps.
Weft Faced	\|	In a weft faced fabric, wefts are more closely spaced than warps and the warps are concealed. In a balanced plain weave, warps and wefts are equally visible.
Weft Float Brocade	\|	The use of supplementary wefts, not continuous from selvedge to selvedge, to create a design by skipping over warps.
Weft Twining	\|	A weft wrapping method in which two wefts pass across warps, twisting together after each warp or at regular intervals.
Weft Wrapping	\|	Any system by which wefts loop around warps rather than only interlacing or passing over and under warps. Soumak and weft chaining are two forms of weft wrapping.
Whip Stitch	\|	A simple stitch used in overcasting and to lock the final weft in rug ends.
Wool Foundation	\|	A rug is started with a wool warp and weft. This is usally more sturdy than the more common cotton foundation.
Woolen	\|	A wool yarn of mixed staple that has been carded. Fibers are neither as long or as parallel as worsted yarn.
Worsted Wool	\|	A wool yarn of long staple with fibers that have been combed prior to spinning. Combing produces more parallel fibers than carding.

Yastik	\|	The Turkish word for "cushion". A small Turkish rug or textile, traditionally used as a cushion cover.
Yek Gereh	\|	The Persian (Farsi) term for an asymmetric knot.
Yomut	\|	A type of tribal weaving made by a remote, nomadic Turkmen tribe found in Turkmenistan and North East Persia.
Yoruk	\|	A Turkish term for a nomad. Apart from the Kurdish-speaking tribes, most of the nomads in Turkey are of Central Asian Turkmen origin.
Yurt	\|	The Turkic name for the tent used by Turkmen tribes.

Z-Spun	\|	Yarn spun in a counter-clockwise direction. The diagonal lines in the "Z" suggests the direction of spin.
Zar	\|	A Persian linear measure of about 41 or 44 inches. The same word can also be used to refer to gold.
Zaronim	\|	A Persian rug of about 5 ft. x 3.5 ft. Literally, one and one-half zars.
Zili (aka: Sili)	\|	A type of Caucasian flatweave rug.
Zilu	\|	A type of woven cotton rug.