Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary/Textor

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Rich, Anthony (1849). The illustrated companion to the Latin dictionary, and Greek lexicon. p. vi. OCLC 894670115. https://archive.org/details/illustratedcompa00rich. 

TEXTOR, TEXTRIX (ὑφάντης, ὑφάντρια). A weaver, male and female. (Mart. xii. 59. Id. iv. 19.) The process of plain weaving was conducted in the following manner. The warp (stamen, tela), which consisted of a number of strongly-twisted threads or "yarns," was fastened to the cross-bar (jugum) forming the top of the loom (wood-cut s. TELA, 2.), or to the cloth beam (insubulum), as in the annexed example (Textor/1.1). A stick or reed (arundo) was then passed in and out between each alternate yarn, over one and under the other, in the same manner as the needle is used in darning, so as to divide the whole number of yarns into two separate parcels  — stamen secernit arundo. All the threads of one parcel were then passed through a set of loops or "leashes" (licia), fastened on to a rod (liciatorium), corresponding with the "heddle" of our weavers, each individual thread being passed through a separate loop, as seen in the engraving. This process of putting on the leashes is described by the expressions licia telae addere, or subnectere. The ends of the yarns were then fixed to the yarn beam (scapus), if there was one, as in the wood-cut s. TELA, 1.; or where collected into a number of bundles, to each of which a weight (pondus) was fastened, as here shown, for the purpose of keeping the warp steady and extended while the woof was driven home. The loom being thus prepared, the weaver decussated the warp by pulling forwards the leash rod, which separated one alternate set of yarns from the other, and produced a "shed" or "tram" (trama), that is, an opening through which the woof (subtemen) was conveyed across the warp by the instrumentality of a rod like a large netting-needle (radius), or by a shuttle (alveolus). The cross-thread of the woof became thus interlaced between each alternate thread of the warp, and was then rendered tight and compact by driving it together with a flat wooden batten (spatha), or by the teeth of a comb (pecten) inserted between the yarns, and producing the same effect as the "reed" or "lay" of a modern weaver. Ov. Met. vi. 55 — 58. Schneider, Index., R. R. Script. s. TELA.

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  Textor/1.1