CORDUROY

corduroy, a cotton cloth of the fustian kind, made like a ribbed velvet. it is generally a coarse heavy material and is used largely for workmen's clothes, but some finer kinds are used for ladies' dresses, &c. according to the _new english dictionary_ the word is understood to be of english invention, "either originally intended, or soon after assumed, to represent a supposed french _corde du roi_." it is said that a coarse woollen fabric called _duroy_, made in somerset during the 18th century, has no apparent connexion with it. from the ribbed appearance of the cloth the name _corduroy_ is applied, particularly in america, to a rough road of logs laid transversely side by side, usually across swampy ground.