What does eyeleting mean?
Eyeleting is the craft of reinforcing a small hole in material by fitting it with an eyelet — a tiny metal ring, usually of brass or steel — that prevents fabric, leather, paper, or canvas from tearing under stress. It is most familiar from shoes and boots, where laces thread through eyeleted holes, but it also appears in corsetry, tents, banners, tags, and upholstery. In a second, older sense, eyeleting names a form of decorative needlework in which small openings are cut in cloth and their edges secured with close buttonhole stitching, producing the airy openwork seen in broderie anglaise. The word functions mainly as an uncountable noun describing either the process or the resulting trim, and it belongs largely to trade and craft vocabulary — encountered in haberdashery, garment manufacturing, and sewing instruction rather than everyday conversation.
The act or process of fitting eyelets into a material, or the eyelet-work trim produced by such reinforcement.
"The bookbinder strengthened the spine with careful eyeleting."
Usually uncountable; used chiefly in trade and craft contexts.
Decorative embroidery in which small holes are worked and overcast with thread, forming an openwork pattern.
"The christening gown featured fine eyeleting across the yoke."
Often called 'eyelet work'; this sense is now less common than the hardware sense.
Rarely pluralized, since the word normally denotes an uncountable process; a plural would appear only when counting distinct instances or types of eyelet work.
"The portfolio displayed her eyeletings from three different garments."
Every lace you've ever tied passed through the quiet craft of eyeleting.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of eyeleting
Eyeleting derives from 'eyelet', a diminutive of 'eye', which entered English in the late Middle Ages via Old French 'œillet', itself from 'œil' ('eye'), tracing back to Latin 'oculus'. The word originally described anything shaped like a little eye — notably a small perforation — before narrowing to the reinforced hole and its metal ring. The suffix '-ing' converts the noun into a term for the action or technique of fitting eyelets.
Related word forms
How eyeleting is actually used
Predominantly a technical or trade term used in garment manufacture, upholstery, bookbinding, and crafts; rarely heard outside these contexts. When referring to the embroidery sense, it often appears as 'eyelet' alone ('eyelet work'), with 'eyeleting' reserved chiefly for the act of fitting hardware eyelets.
Easily confused with eyeleting
An 'islet' is a very small island, whereas 'eyeleting' concerns the fitting of eyelets — the two words merely sound somewhat alike.
'Grommeting' involves larger rubber or metal rings typically used on tarps and sails, while eyeleting usually refers to smaller metal rings in fabric, leather, or shoes.