Boards & Looms

A loom is a machine or device for weaving thread or yarn into textiles. Looms can range from very small hand-held frames, to large free-standing hand looms, to huge automatic mechanical devices. more...

In practice, the basic purpose of any loom is to hold the warp threads under tension to facilitate the interweaving of the weft threads. The precise shape of the loom and its mechanics may vary, but the basic function is the same.

Weaving

See Weaving for more information.

See Textile manufacturing terminology for more terms connected with looms.

Weaving is done by intersecting the longitudinal threads, the warp, i.e. "that which is thrown across" (Old English wearp, from weorpan, to throw, cf. German werfen) with the transverse threads, the woof or weft, i.e. "that which is woven" (Old English wefta, from wefan, to weave, cf. German weben).

Loom itself derives from Middle English lome, in turn from Old English geloma (ge- was an Old English prefix), meaning "an implement or tool of any kind". The words lome and -loma are of unknown origin, although they have a cognate in Middle Dutch, allame, "tool".

The earliest attestation of loom with its specific meaning quoted by the Oxford English Dictionary is from the Nottingham Records of 1404, but handwoven cloth existed much earlier, perhaps as far back as 8000 BC.

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