heddle

Etymology

From Middle English helde, from Old English hefeld, from the root of Proto-Germanic *habjaną (“to have, heave”), from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂p-. Cognate with Old Saxon hevild, Middle Low German hevelte, Icelandic hafald.

noun

1. A component in a loom, being one of a number of similar components, through the eye of each of which a distinct strand of the warp is threaded.
   The only other table, generally used by operative weavers, is that for setting the heddles, so as to correspond with the reed. Few weavers are in possession of a sufficient variety of heddles, to suit every reed in which they may be employed to weave cloth. 1808, John Duncan, Practical and Descriptive Essays on the Art of Weaving, volume 1, page 72
   The heddles and heddle frames, Fig. 3, and the reed may be purchased from dealers in craftwork supplies. 1948 January, “Make Weaving Your Hobby”, in Popular Mechanics, volume 89, number 1, page 190
   If errors have occurred in threading the heddles, it is usually expedient to remove all threads from the begining of the error and re-thread them correctly. 1980, US Department of the Army, Craft Techniques in Occupational Therapy, page 7-22
2. One of the sets of parallel doubled threads which, with mounting, compose the harness employed to guide the warp threads to the lathe or batten in a loom.

verb

1. To thread each strand of the warp through the eye of a heddle.
   After each frame has been heddled, stand upright within easy reach until the full set has been completed. 1947, Rayon Textile Monthly, volume 28, page 377
   This, of course, discounts the idea that the system of heddling based on Icelandic descriptions (Hoffmann, 1964, 188, fig. 91) has been used for all time, although it could in theory have been used for any of the 2/2 twills in the York collection. 1982, Arthur MacGregor, Anglo-Scandinavian Finds from Lloyds Bank, Pavement, and Other Sites, volume 17, part 3, page 118
   1994, Kim Mi-ju, Gender Division of Labor and Skill as a Factor of Sex Wage Differentials, Hyŏng Cho, Chang Pil-Wha (editors), Gender Division of Labor (in) Korea, Ewha Womans University Press, 116, After heddling she takes the reeds and arranges them as ordered. She knows that if reed denting is uneven, the textile is ruined.