selvage

[prettygoodword]

selvage (SEL-vij) - n., a border or edge, specifically: a) the edge of woven fabric created by looping the weft back under to prevent fraying; b) the edge of a knitted fabric where stitches are neither cast on nor bound off; c) any similar strip of surplus material, as at the edge of wallpaper; d) the ornamental fringe at the ends of an oriental rug; e) the margin around a sheet of postage stamps; f) the plate through which the bolt of a lock passes; g) a distinct border on a mass of igneous rock, formed by rapid cooling; h) a clay-like material found along and around a geologic fault, or along the wall of a vein.


In use from the mid-15th century, from a merging of self-edge, done either natively in English or by analogy to Middle Dutch selfegghe (now spelled zelfegge).

---L.