Calico

Calico Cal"i*co, n.; pl. {Calicoes}. [So called because first imported from Calicut, in the East Indies: cf. F. calicot.] 1. Plain white cloth made from cotton, but which receives distinctive names according to quality and use, as, super calicoes, shirting calicoes, unbleached calicoes, etc. [Eng.] [1913 Webster]

The importation of printed or stained colicoes appears to have been coeval with the establishment of the East India Company. --Beck (Draper's Dict. ). [1913 Webster]

2. Cotton cloth printed with a figured pattern. [1913 Webster]

Note: In the United States the term calico is applied only to the printed fabric. [1913 Webster]

{Calico bass} (Zo["o]l.), an edible, fresh-water fish ({Pomoxys sparaides}) of the rivers and lake of the Western United States (esp. of the Misissippi valley.), allied to the sunfishes, and so called from its variegated colors; -- called also {calicoback}, {grass bass}, {strawberry bass}, {barfish}, and {bitterhead}.

{Calico printing}, the art or process of impressing the figured patterns on calico. [1913 Webster]