The EuroWeb Textile and Clothing Terminology Network and the Digital Atlas of European Textile Heritage: Some Reflections and Results

Abstract

One of the research areas of the EuroWeb project during the four years of the COST Action (November 2020 – October 2024) is the comparative study of textile and clothing terminologies in European languages across time. Inside the EuroWeb network, the research group on Textile and clothing terminologies has three topics of particular interest: 1. the specificities of these terminologies, and the strategies for naming textiles and garments; 2. the impact of European geography on textile and clothing terminologies, especially visible through textile terms formed after a toponym or through the circulation of loanwords; 3. the influence of textile and clothing terminologies on texts, languages, and literature. Although the geographical scope of the project is focused on Europe, it also includes neighboring areas. The terminology research group counted more than 120 people, specialists in the study of modern or ancient textile terminologies who have various disciplinary profiles: Historians, epigraphists, linguists and terminologists, archaeologists, art historians, and museums curators. The aim of the EuroWeb COST Action is to bring together these experts in different fields related to textiles studies through joint meetings, scientific conferences, and training schools, but also through collaborative research and brainstorming around the construction of common tools. Examples include a terminological vocabulary of the basic terms of our field of study, or an online platform to share knowledge on the terminology of textiles and clothing. In this article, we want to focus on the work carried out during the first years of the EuroWeb project (November 2020 – October 2024) by the terminology research group, starting with a focus on the collaboration with the team involved in the creation of the Digital Atlas of European Textile Heritage.