houndstooth

English

WOTD – 2 December 2016

The South Korean girl group Hello Venus performing in 2014. Its members are all wearing houndstooth-patterned trousers.

A houndstooth pattern

Etymology

From hound +‎ -s- +‎ tooth, from its appearance.

Although the pattern itself is archaeologically found from time immemorial, the modern term is first attested in 1936.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhaʊndstuːθ/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: hounds‧tooth

Noun

houndstooth (plural houndsteeth)

1. A two-colour fabric pattern of broken checks.
   • 1974, Interior Design, volume 45, New York, N.Y.: Interior Design Division of Whitney Communication Corp., →OCLC, page 251, column 1:

     Other patterns include varied adaptations of paisleys, Tree of Life motifs, tiles, scenics, patchworks, ticking, soft-edge geometries, sports themes, crewel shapes, houndsteeth, and a plethora of florals.

   • 1998, Deborah Newton, “Dressmaker Details & Finishing”, in Designing Knitwear, Newtown, Ct.: Taunton Press, →ISBN, page 210:

     A houndstooth fabric is composed of tiny, interlocking pinwheel motifs. There are many houndstooth knitting patterns […]; to add an extra touch to these patterns, work them in nubby or textured yarns.

   • 2004, Lois S. Young, “Houndstooth Toddler Set”, in Jeanne Stauffer, editor, Knitting in the Round, Berne, Ind.: House of White Birches, →ISBN, page 56:

     Sophisticated houndstooth checks highlight a toddler's jacket and hat.

2. Fabric with a houndstooth pattern; an item of clothing made with such fabric.
   • 1970, Men's Wear, volume 161, New York, N.Y.: Fairchild Publications, →OCLC, page 73, column 1:

     Their ties were tidier, their houndsteeth toothier … they ended up looking more Windsorian than Windsor.

   • 2014, Jacinda Townsend, “Jupiter”, in Saint Monkey: A Novel, New York, N.Y.: W. W. Norton & Company, →ISBN, page 68:

     Her dress is wool too, brown and black houndsteeth that belonged to her mother.

Synonyms

• dogstooth
• dog's tooth
• pied-de-poule

Translations

fabric pattern

• Bulgarian: пипит m (pipit)
• Catalan: pota de gall f
• Finnish: kukonaskel (fi)
• French: pied-de-poule (fr) m
• German: Hahnentritt (de) m
• Japanese: 千鳥格子 (chidori kōshi), 千鳥柄 (chidori-gara)
• Spanish: pata de gallo f

Further reading

• houndstooth on Wikipedia.Wikipedia