Fabric Definitions — definitions of fabrics, cloths, laces and textile materials from Apparel Search
Dungaree is an earlier term for denim: a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads, producing a diagonal ribbing. The most common dungaree is indigo denim, with the warp thread dyed and the weft left white, so one side is dominated by blue warp and the other by white weft — blue jeans are white on the inside.
Dungaree is an earlier term for denim.
Dungaree or denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This twill weaving produces a diagonal ribbing.
Dungaree fabric is a historical term for a particular twill-weave cotton cloth, often colored blue. Cotton twill with indigo dyed warp thread is now more commonly referred to as denim.
The origin of the words is from Marathi dongrī. The word is possibly derived from Dongri, a dockside village near Mumbai.
Dungarees which are made from dungaree cloth are often worn as workwear because of the fabrics durability.
Jeans are a type of pants or trousers, typically made from denim or dungaree cloth. Often the term "jeans" refers to a particular style of trousers, called "blue jeans", which were invented by Jacob W. Davis in partnership with Levi Strauss & Co. in 1871 and patented by Jacob W. Davis and Levi Strauss on May 20, 1873.
Dungarees are pants made of dungaree fabric.
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Dungaree survives in modern English for two reasons. First, it names the garment as well as the cloth, and in British usage dungarees still means bib overalls — a specific work garment, not trousers generally — so the word carries a garment meaning that denim, which names only cloth and a style of jean, does not. Second, it marks period: naval and workwear history, vintage clothing and older pattern books use dungaree as the period-correct term, and naval dress in particular kept dungarees as the name of a working rig long after civilian trade settled on denim. A reader meeting dungaree in a historical source should translate it as denim cloth, usually indigo, and check from context whether cloth or trousers are meant — the word does both duties, and context always decides.
Dungaree shares denim's signature physics. The indigo dyeing leaves the core of the warp threads white, so abrasion does not merely wear the cloth, it lightens it — the fading characteristics follow directly from dyeing only the thread surface and weaving warp-faced, so the white weft and the white thread cores emerge with wear. That is why dungaree workwear was traditionally expected to fade rather than to stay uniform in color, and why the fabric's durability and its changing appearance are the same property seen from two sides: a cloth strong enough to be worn for years will be worn long enough to record those years in its color. Modern denim inherited the whole system unchanged — indigo warp, white weft, warp-faced twill — under the newer name.
The cloth is essentially the same warp-faced cotton twill; the difference is the word and its period. Dungaree is the historical term for a particular twill-weave cotton cloth, often colored blue, originating in India; cotton twill with indigo-dyed warp is now more commonly referred to as denim. Older texts, patterns and workwear references say dungaree where modern ones say denim.
From the Marathi word dongri, possibly derived from Dongri, a dockside village near Mumbai, where the coarse cotton cloth was traded. The name travelled with the cloth into English workwear vocabulary, and then onto the garments — dungarees — made from it.
Trousers made of dungaree fabric, worn as workwear because of the fabric's durability. The most famous descendants are blue jeans — a type of trouser invented by Jacob W. Davis in partnership with Levi Strauss and Co. in 1871 and patented by Davis and Strauss on May 20, 1873.