English word origin

Etymology of terry

Of uncertain origin, possibly French tiré (“drawn out”), past participle of tirer (“to draw out”).

2 source sectionsBrief source recordWiktionary original ↗

In this entry · 2 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1

Original entry ↗

noun

A type of coarse cotton fabric covered in many small raised loops that is used to make towels, bathrobes and some types of nappy/diaper. · Any makeshift cloth nappy folded from a large piece of absorbent fabric and held in place by a nappy pin or nappy fastener; a flat nappy.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Of uncertain origin, possibly French tiré (“drawn out”), past participle of tirer (“to draw out”).

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Derivation mentiontiréfr

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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      "args": {
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        "2": "fr",
        "3": "tiré",
        "4": "",
        "5": "drawn out"
      },
      "expansion": "French tiré (“drawn out”)"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "tiré",
      "tiré#French"
    ],
    [
      "tirer",
      "tirer#French"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A type of coarse cotton fabric covered in many small raised loops that is used to make towels, bathrobes and some types of nappy/diaper.",
        "Any makeshift cloth nappy folded from a large piece of absorbent fabric and held in place by a nappy pin or nappy fastener; a flat nappy."
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  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗

noun

A terrorist

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

Contraction of terrorist.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

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  "links": [
    [
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  ],
  "references": [],
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  "lexical": [
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      "pos": "noun",
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Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for terry →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger

Machine-source provenance

Source SHA-256: 5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run: 73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID: w-dGVycnk