Abrash: Irregularities in the same color, which result when all the wool is not dyed at the same time. This effect is often deliberately produced in machine-made carpets.

All-over: This term used to describe the pattern of a rug whose field has no central medallion.

Analine Dye: A type of industrial or synthetic dye derived from benzol. A product of coal tar, introduced to the carpet industry in the late nineteenth century. The dyes were not colorfast -- they faded when exposed to sunlight and tended to run when damp.

Barber-Pole Edging: When sides of a rug are overcast with several of the different colored yarns usually left over from weaving the rug.

Border: A band or series of bands surrounding the field and focal point of a carpet.

Cartoon: This is a complete picture of the rug design from which weavers construct a rug.

Chrome Dyes: Modern light -- and water -- fast dyes used in recent Oriental carpet production.

Field: Main design area of a carpet, framed by the borders.

Foundation: The weave of warp and weft threads of a pile rug.

Fringe: The loose ends created by the carpet's warp threads that emerge from the upper and lower ends of a rug. Sometimes the fringe is left plain; sometimes it is braided or knotted.

Guard Border or Guard Stripe: A narrow stripe, often only two or three knots wide, which separates the field from the borders or the major and minor borders.

Herati: One of the most popular Persian motifs, consisting of a palmette flanked by lanceolate leaves.

Hunting Carpet: Type of carpet illustrating hunting scenes, mainly of the 16th and 17th century, although often copied in later products.

Indigo: Natural plant dye for blue borders.

Lazy Lines: A term used to describe diagonal lines created by reversing the weft thread back on itself rather than having it carried across the width of the carpet.

Lustre: Light reflection from the carpet pile.

Madder: Natural dye root for red colors.

Medallion: Large design found in the center in some rugs.

Motifs: Single or repeated design or color that can be found throughout the rug.

Natural Dye: A dye derived from a plant, root, flower, fruit, tree, or insect.

Needlepoint: A needlepoint rug is a flat-weave rug produced by sewing the design into a large piece of fabric. Various stitches can be used to produce different patterns and appearances. When the artisan changes thread color, the excess is left hanging long on the back side.

Patina: Appearance gained by old carpets, due to oxidation of the wool and dyes. A valuable feature of old and antique carpets. New carpets are sometimes chemically treated to provide an artificial patina.

Panel Design: A rug design in which the field is divided into rectangular compartments, each of which encloses one or more motifs.

Pile: The raised surface, silk or wool, of a knotted carpet; the length of the pile varies greatly, depending, apart from the condition of the carpet, on the place of origin.

Prayer Rug: A small Oriental rug used by Moslems to kneel on when saying their daily prayers.

Rosette: Universal surface ornament corresponding to top view of flower or blossom. Found on the field, major or minor borders of carpets in manifold naturalistic and geometric forms.

Runner: A long, narrow rug used mostly for hallways and staircases.

Warp: The vertical threads of a carpet. The warp is strung on the empty loom and provides the framework for weaving.

Weft: The horizontal continuous thread woven into the warp. One or more shoots of weft thread usually separates the rows of knots which are tied to the warp.