Etymology From Calicut, from where the cloth was originally exported, from Malayalam കോഴിക്കോട് (kōḻikkōṭŭ, “Kozhikode”), from കോഴി (kōḻi, “palace”) + കോട് (kōṭŭ, “fortified palace”).
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Business, Manufacturing, Textiles A kind of rough cloth made from unbleached and not fully processed cotton, often printed with a bright pattern.
This helix was covered with calico, and then a second wire applied in the same manner.1832, Michael Faraday, “Experimental Researches in Electricity”, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, volume 122, →DOI, →JSTOR, page 126:
Trussed in corsets, jawbone-high collars and calicos that had seen better days, they have little enough to work with, their attempts at coquetry further constrained by their rigid mores of the day.2017 June 30, Ruth La Ferla, “In ‘The Beguiled,’ Pretty Confections Whipped Up to Seduce”, in The New York Times, →ISSN:
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Abbreviation, Ellipsis Ellipsis of calico cat.
One of them, a calico whose half-grown kittens he just fed, slow-blinks at him, an affectionate gesture.2022, N. K. Jemisin, The World We Make, Orbit, page 111:
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Biology, Botany, Natural sciences The plant disease caused by Tobacco mosaic virus.
Etymology From Calicut, from where the cloth was originally exported, from Malayalam കോഴിക്കോട് (kōḻikkōṭŭ, “Kozhikode”), from കോഴി (kōḻi, “palace”) + കോട് (kōṭŭ, “fortified palace”).
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Made of calico or resembling the color of calico cloth, having a pattern of red and contrasting areas; variegated.
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.
1 more example
Sara, oh Sara / Scorpio Sphinx in a calico dress1976, Bob Dylan, “Sara”, in Desire:
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Having red, brunette, and blond hair colors, resembling the fur of a calico cat.