What does shirting mean?
Shirting is material used to make shirts, most often a lightweight cotton or cotton-blend cloth selected for its weave, softness, or suitability for formal clothing. The term belongs primarily to textile, tailoring, and garment-making contexts: a shop might sell cotton shirting by the metre, while a designer might specify a fine shirting for a dress shirt. It is different from a shirt, which is the completed garment, and from generic fabric, since shirting specifically identifies cloth intended for shirts. Although sometimes used more broadly to include other materials woven for shirtmaking, its central association is with cotton cloth. The word is consequently more common in professional descriptions of cloth than in everyday conversation about clothes, where people are more likely to name the material simply as cotton or linen.
nounFabric suitable for making shirts, especially a lightweight cotton or cotton-blend textile. In textile terminology, shirting may also refer more broadly to materials woven for use in shirts.
- Fabric, especially cotton or a cotton blend, intended for making shirts.
"The tailor selected a fine blue shirting for the summer suit."
"The wardrobe contains several shirts made from lightweight cotton shirting."
"This mill specializes in fine shirting for formal menswear."
The noun is usually uncountable; the plural is used when distinguishing different kinds of shirting fabric.
"The merchant stocks several shirtings in cotton and linen."
Shirting names the cloth, not the shirt—and textile labels use that distinction with precision.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of shirting
Shirting was formed in English by adding the textile-forming suffix “-ing” to “shirt,” denoting fabric suitable for making the named garment. “Shirt” descends from Middle English shirte and Old English scyrte, a Germanic word associated with a short garment and related to the history of modern “skirt.” Compounds such as “undershirt” and “T-shirt” continue the same English word root.
How shirting is actually used
Shirting is chiefly a textile-industry and tailoring term. It is normally used as an uncountable noun, though the plural can distinguish different kinds of shirting fabric.
Easily confused with shirting
A shirt is the finished garment, whereas shirting is the fabric used to make one.