overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

calico.

A kind of rough cloth made from unbleached and not fully processed cotton, often printed with a bright pattern.

6 characters3 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈkæ.lɪ.kəʊ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈkæ.lɪ.koʊ/General-American
  1. A kind of rough cloth made from unbleached and not fully processed cotton, often printed with a bright pattern.

    countable · uncountable
  2. Ellipsis of calico cat.

    abbreviation · alt-of · countable · ellipsis
  3. The plant disease caused by Tobacco mosaic virus.

    uncountable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Malayalam കോഴിക്കോട് (kōḻikkōṭŭ)bor. Portuguese Calicutbor. English Calicut English calico From Calicut, from where the cloth was originally exported, from Malayalam കോഴിക്കോട് (kōḻikkōṭŭ, “Kozhikode”), from കോഴി (kōḻi, “palace”) + കോട് (kōṭŭ, “fortified palace”).

adj/ˈkæ.lɪ.kəʊ/Received-Pronunciation/ˈkæ.lɪ.koʊ/General-American
  1. Made of calico or resembling the color of calico cloth, having a pattern of red and contrasting areas; variegated.

    not-comparable
    The calico cat had distinctive red and dark markings.
    The calico-patterned tablecloths were supposed to make the restaurant look rustic; instead, they made it look run down.
  2. Made of calico or resembling the color of calico cloth, having a pattern of red and contrasting areas; variegated. Having red, brunette, and blond hair colors, resembling the fur of a calico cat.

    not-comparable
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Malayalam കോഴിക്കോട് (kōḻikkōṭŭ)bor. Portuguese Calicutbor. English Calicut English calico From Calicut, from where the cloth was originally exported, from Malayalam കോഴിക്കോട് (kōḻikkōṭŭ, “Kozhikode”), from കോഴി (kōḻi, “palace”) + കോട് (kōṭŭ, “fortified palace”).

FROM WORD TO NAME

Try it on your idea.

calico has 6 characters. Say it out loud, try it alongside a description of your project, and see whether its meaning fits what you want to create.

calico studiocalico workshello, calico

These are naming prompts. Meanings and pronunciation can vary; existing brand and domain uses have not been checked.

Explore the name generator

A word with a source.

Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.