Dictionary

Ṭirsān: (Arabic: mtrās: barrier, synonyms: ṭrsān, qītān), colloquial North African dialect referring to a cord created by spinning or twisting a number of threads (meftal) over a central straw. Used in handwoven technique (sfīfah), generally applied to the edges of dress articles to support tailoring lines or seems.

Miftal: (Arabic: fatal: twist, synonym: fātlah), colloquial North African dialect term for spun or twisted yarn. It can also refer to the hand drop spindle used for spinning the yarn.

Būṣī: (UAE colloquial), the colour fuschia.

Daj: (Arabic: daj: blanketed with), Colloquially in the UAE, the term refers to densely covered machine embroidery work. The term (dag) is also simultaneously used, as a general term for embroidery or adornment (dag_tallī), or as in ‘made by’ or ‘made in’ as in ‘made in India’.

Bayt_bū_bītān (Arabic: bāt: gusset) a UAE colloquial reference to decorative braiding (tallī) design found on the central portion of the cuffs along the wrists (hyūl) or ankles (bādlah), with triangular or diamond shape motifs resembling a gusset (bāt). It requires 50 spools of thread (hdūb) and 20 metallic straws (khūsah), and 36 hours to create one meter.

Bayt_bū_glāsāt (English: glass or cup, pl. glāsāt), a UAE colloquial reference to decorative braiding (tallī) design found on the central portion of the cuffs along the wrists (hyūl) or ankles (bādlah), resembling cup motif (glāsāt). It requires 50 spools of thread (hdūb) and 20 metallic straws (khūsah), and 36 hours to create one meter. 

Mnakasah : (Arabic: nakasa: overturn) to turn upside down.  

Ṭab‘ah (Arabic: taba‘: print), UAE colloquial reference to decorative embroidery work on the neckline, central axis and sleeve cuffs of overgarments (athwāb) or tunic dresses (kanādīr), when the design copies the exact same design printed on the fabric. 

Bū_baysah (Indian: Paisa: coin), UAE colloquial reference to polka dots in the shape and size of the Indian Paisa coin an earlier denomination of the Indian Rupee.

Talli_almās: (Arabic: almās: diamond), colloquially in the UAE refers to a repeated diamond-shaped patterns used in (tallī) making, closely similar to (talli_’ain_mozah). It requires 16 spools (dhahārī) of thread, 2 metallic straw (khūṣah), and 15 hours of work to obtain a meter-long cord.

Tallī_muthalathat: (Arabic: muthalath: triangle), colloquially in the UAE refers to repeated triangles in straight and inverted patterns, used in (tallī) making. It requires 24 spools (dhahārī) of thread, 10 metallic straw (khūṣah), and 33 hours of work to obtain a meter-long cord.

Tallī_garn_al_ghazāl: (Arabic: qarn: horn, al ghazāl: deer), a direct reference to a specific pattern used in traditional tallī making in UAE, a variant double line of the (ghūlī) and (tallī_garn_al_‘ijil) designs resembling deer horns. It requires 16 spools (dhahārī) of thread, 2 metallic straw (khūṣah), and 20 hours of work to obtain a meter-long cord.