A blanket is a swath of soft

cloth Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, and different types of fabric. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is n ...

large enough either to cover or to enfold most of the user's body and thick enough to keep the body warm by trapping radiant body heat that otherwise would be lost through

conduction Conductor or conduction may refer to: Biology and medicine * Bone conduction, the conduction of sound to the inner ear * Conduction aphasia, a language disorder Mathematics * Conductor (ring theory) * Conductor of an abelian variety * Condu ...

Etymology

The term arose from the generalization of a specific fabric called ''blanke'', a heavily napped undyed woolen weave. A popular theory has that the name derives from an eponymous Thomas Blanket (Blanquette), a Flemish weaver who lived in

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city, unitary authority area and ceremonial county in South West England, the most populous city in the region. Built around the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, in the 14th century. However, earlier usage of the term is possible as a borrowing of the

Old French Old French (, , ; ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France approximately between the late 8th blanc'', meaning "white". William Shakespeare">wikt:blanc#French">blanc'', meaning "white". William Shakespeare is recognised as the first person to use the verb ''blanket'', meaning to 'cover with or as with a blanket'. In the play ''King Lear'', published in 1608, the character Edgar says: "My face ile grime with filth, Blanket my loynes, else all my haire with knots."

History

An ancient form of blanket is recorded as . The 7th century Chinese traveler and scholar

Xuanzang Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...

mentioned the stuff in his travelogue of his journey to India in 629–645 CE. He refers to "Kambala" as a woolen material made from sheep or goat's hair. He categorized it as a kind of material for clothing. The

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

meaning of Kambala is 'a woolen blanket." According to India's ancient text, the

Atharvaveda The Atharvaveda or Atharva Veda (, , from ''wikt:अथर्वन्, अथर्वन्'', "priest" and ''wikt:वेद, वेद'', "knowledge") or is the "knowledge storehouse of ''wikt:अथर्वन्, atharvans'', the proced ...

, kambala is a generic term for materials such as shawls and blankets. Known as "Kambali" in Kannada and Tamil, these thick coarse blankets are woven with sheep wool whose texture is extremely coarse and thick to provide adequate warmth in winter. was a type of Kambala from Gandhāra, Ancient Indian scholar

Pāṇini (; , ) was a Sanskrit grammarian, logician, philologist, and revered scholar in ancient India during the mid-1st millennium BCE, dated variously by most scholars between the 6th–5th and 4th century BCE. The historical facts of his life ar ...

mentioned "pandu-kambala" from the upper parts of Gandhara, the place was "Uddiyana," which was famous for the said blankets. Some more variations of old Indian blankets are "keca-lakah", "kalamitika", "talicchakam", "varavanah", "sarumitika", "paristomah", "samanatabhad", "turangastaranam", "varnakam", "paristomah", "samanatabhad". Coarse qualities were used by farmers, and herdsmen. Some of them were used to spread out on the backs of animals like horses, elephants, and bullocks.

Types

Many types of blanket material, such as

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

, are used because they are thicker and have more substantial fabric to them, but

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

can also be used for light blankets. Wool blankets are warmer and also relatively slow to burn compared to cotton. The most common types of blankets are woven acrylic, knitted polyester,

mink Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...

, cotton, fleece and wool. Blankets also come with exotic crafting and exotic material such as crocheted

afghan Afghan or Afgan may refer to: Related to Afghanistan *Afghans, historically refers to the Pashtun people. It is both an ethnicity and nationality. Ethnicity wise, it refers to the Pashtuns. In modern terms, it means both the citizens of Afghanist ...

or a silk covering. The term blanket is often interchanged with

comforter A comforter (in American English), also known as a doona in Australian English, or a continental quilt (or simply quilt) or duvet in British English, is a type of bedding made of two lengths of fabric or covering sewn together and filled with in ...

quilt A quilt is a multi-layered textile, traditionally composed of two or more layers of fabric or fiber. Commonly three layers are used with a filler material. These layers traditionally include a woven cloth top, a layer of padding, batting or w ...

, and

duvet A duvet ( , ; ), usually called a comforter or (''down-filled'') quilt in American English, and a doona in Australian English, is a type of bedding consisting of a soft flat bag filled with down feather, down, feathers, wool, cotton, silk, o ...

, as they all have similar uses.

Uses

Blankets have been used by militaries for many centuries. Militaries are some of the biggest single consumers of woolen blankets. Military blankets tend to be coarse grey, with thick fibers of over 20

microns The micrometre (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English as used by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures; SI symbol: μm) or micrometer (American English), also commonly known by the non-SI term micron, is a uni ...

. Special blankets known as baby blankets are used to protect infants from the cold. Small children (and some adults) may also use a blanket as a

comfort object A comfort object, more formally a transitional object or attachment object, is an item used to provide psychology, psychological comfort, especially in unusual or unique situations, or at bedtime for children. Among toddlers, a comfort object of ...

. Blankets may be spread on the ground for a

picnic A picnic is a meal taken outdoors (Al fresco dining, ''al fresco'') as part of an excursion, especially in scenic surroundings, such as a park, lakeside, or other place affording an interesting view, or else in conjunction with a public event su ...

or where people want to sit in a grassy or muddy area without soiling their clothing. Temporary blankets have been designed for this purpose.

References

External links