The vocabulary of a weaving floor.

In weaving, a beam is a long cylindrical roll that holds the warp yarn pre-loaded for a loom. Each weaving order begins with beam preparation and beam loading.

A taka is a finished length of woven fabric and the standard output unit of an Indian weaving floor — typically 50–150 metres depending on design and customer specification.

Doffing is the act of removing a completed taka from the loom and starting the next length. It is the natural production-reporting moment on a weaving floor.

Greige (pronounced "gray") is unprocessed woven fabric as it comes off the loom — before dyeing, printing, bleaching, or finishing.

Warp refers to the lengthwise yarns held under tension on a loom. The warp is pre-loaded as a beam and runs through the loom for the duration of the order.

Weft is the crosswise yarn inserted across the warp to create woven fabric. Each insertion is called a pick.

A pick is a single traversal of the weft across the warp. Pick density — picks per inch (PPI) — is a primary fabric specification.

A reed is a comb-like component on a loom that holds the warp ends at a fixed density and beats each pick of weft into the cloth.

A jacquard is a loom mechanism that controls each warp end individually, enabling complex patterned weaving such as sarees, brocades, and intricate shirting designs.

A dobby is a loom mechanism that controls a limited number of harnesses (typically up to 24) for simpler patterned weaving.

A water jet loom is a shuttle-less loom that uses a high-pressure jet of water to propel the weft across the warp. Common in Surat for synthetic sarees and dress material.

A rapier loom is a shuttle-less loom that uses one or two rigid or flexible rapiers to carry the weft across the warp. Dominant in cotton-heavy clusters like Erode and Coimbatore.

Sizing is the process of coating warp yarn with a starch or polymer-based film to strengthen it and reduce friction during weaving.

Ends per inch (EPI) is the count of warp yarns in one inch of fabric width. Together with picks-per-inch (PPI), EPI defines fabric density.

Jobwork (or contract weaving) is when a weaving unit weaves customer-supplied yarn into fabric for a per-meter or per-kilogram fee, rather than buying yarn and selling fabric.

An airjet loom is a shuttle-less loom that uses a high-pressure jet of compressed air to propel the weft across the warp. Airjet looms are common in cotton, blended, and shirting production.

A shuttle loom is the traditional loom type that uses a shuttle to carry the weft yarn back and forth across the warp. Still common in many Indian powerloom clusters despite being slower than shuttle-less alternatives.

A powerloom is a mechanically powered weaving loom — as opposed to a handloom. In Indian usage, "powerloom" most often refers to the broad segment of small-to-mid-size weaving units running shuttle and shuttle-less mechanical looms.

Denier is a yarn count system used for synthetic yarns — polyester, nylon, viscose. It measures the linear mass of yarn: the higher the denier number, the heavier (thicker) the yarn.

Tex is a yarn count system that measures yarn linear density in grams per kilometre. Used as a metric standard across natural and synthetic yarns. Higher Tex means heavier (thicker) yarn.

The selvedge is the finished edge along the length of a woven fabric — the strip on each side that prevents the weave from unravelling. Selvedge construction varies by loom type and design.

A heald frame (or heddle frame) is a rectangular frame on a loom that holds heddles — the wires or cords through which warp ends pass. By raising and lowering different heald frames, the loom creates the warp opening (shed) for each pick.

In weaving, the shed is the temporary opening between the upper and lower warp ends, created by raising some heald frames and lowering others. The weft is inserted through this opening on each pick.

Cotton count, written as Ne, is the English yarn count system used predominantly for cotton and cotton-blend yarns in India. Higher Ne means finer (thinner) yarn.