corduroy

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corduroy

/ˈkɔːdəɹɔɪ/ UK
/ˈkɔːdɹɔɪ/
/ˈkɔɹdəɹɔɪ/ US

Where it comes from

Origin uncertain. Probably from cord + duroy (“a 17th century coarse fabric made in England”). Probably not from French *corde du roi (“cloth of the king”), which is unattested in French, where the term for the corduroy is velours côtelé. Possibly from cordesoy from corde de soie (“rope of silk or silk-like fabric”), named for example in a 1756 advertisement for clothing fabrics; see Wikipedia article, and comparable in language form to the contemporary serg(e)dusoys (“silk serge”), see Serge (fabric).

noun corduroys

countable, uncountable A heavy fabric, usually made of cotton, with vertical ribs. Sunning himself on the board steps, I saw for the first time Mr. Farquhar Fenelon Cooke.[…]A silver snaffle on a heavy leather watch guard which connected the pockets of his corduroy waistcoat, together with a huge gold stirrup in his Ascot tie, sufficiently proclaimed his tastes.
Ireland, countable, obsolete, slang, uncountable Cheap and poor-quality whiskey. Another description of what would be termed adulterated spirits, is by the vulgar termed "Corduroy," on account of the rough feeling which it imparts to the tongue and palate.
Similar: kill-the-beggar
countable, uncountable A pattern on snow resulting from the use of a snow groomer to pack snow and improve skiing, snowboarding and snowmobile trail conditions. Corduroy is widely regarded as a good surface on which to ski or ride.

adjective

not comparable Of a road, path, etc., paved with split or round logs laid crosswise side by side. Swamps had to be crossed by means of corduroy causeways; made by cutting down trees and laying them horizontally on the quivering mass of boggy ground.

verb corduroys · corduroying · corduroyed

To make (a road) by laying down split logs or tree-trunks over a marsh, swamp etc. The night was very dark and it rained heavily, the roads were so bad that the troops had to cut trees and corduroy the road a part of the way, to get through.

Translations

Every language

noun heavy fabric with vertical ribs

Español	pana, corderoy
한국어	코듀로이 kodyuroi, 코르덴 koreuden
日本語	コーデュロイ kōdyuroi, コール天 kōruten
中文	燈芯絨 /灯芯绒 dēngxīnróng
Português	bombazine, bombazina, veludo cotelê
Français	velours côtelé
Deutsch	Cord, Schnürlsamt
Italiano	velluto a coste
Ελληνικά	κοτλέ kotlé
Русский	ру́бчатый вельве́т rúbčatyj velʹvét, вельве́т velʹvét, кордеро́й korderój, ру́бчатый плис rúbčatyj plis, плис plis, корд kord
עברית	קוֹרדֶרוֹי korderoy

verb to make road of logs

中文	鋪木排路 /铺木排路 pū mù pái lù

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MLA

"corduroy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/corduroy. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

corduroy. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/corduroy

Chicago

"corduroy." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/corduroy.

BibTeX

@misc{corduroy_2026,
  title = {corduroy},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/corduroy},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}