• Abrash: Varying shades of a color caused or produced by a lack of uniformity in the dyeing of the fibers. The term enters English from Turkish abraş, itself inherited from Ottoman abraş ابراش via Arabic äbräş أَبْرَش "dappled, mottled." 

• Achaemenids: A Persian dynasty in pre-Islamic Iran, 560-330 B.C.E. Their state was known as Xşaaça, a term that is cognate with Middle Persian şahr "state." ⁠

• Alum: (Aluminum Sulphate and Potassium) material used as a fixative and mordant agent in the dyeing of fibers.

• Arabesque: Decorative motifs consisting of abstract and open stylized floral designs which can be repeated ad infinitum. They are repetitive interlaced and intricate patterns derived from Iranic designs of plant and stem motifs.

• Arab-Spanish Knot: Used in Spanish and some Coptic carpets.

• Azo Dye: A synthetic dye, Classified as acid direct, introduced from 1875 to 1890. Usually yellow, orange, red or violet red. Tends to run easily.

• Asymmetrical Knot: Also known as the Persian knot or Senneh knot. The yarn only encircles one warp of the pair and is described as being open to the left or to the right.

• Aniline Dye: A basic direct dye made from coaltar derivatives, first used in carpets around 1860 and prevalent in the Middle East by 1880. Pink, violet, blue, and green were among the first colors in widespread use. The dyes are fugitive and fade to unattractive shades. They were banned by the Iranian Government from 1903, although they continued to be used in other countries.

• Beam: (Of a loom) the wooden bar around which the warp and the finished part of the carpet are wound.

• Brocade: A specific type of fabric; in carpets this term refers to gold and silver threads, forming rings, which are woven into the warp’ and weft.

• Boteh: A design motif, leaf-shaped with a crest or curving top, or shaped rather like a pine-cone or pear. Developed in the seventeenth century out of Iranian and Indian flowering plant motifs; later used in a more angular form in Iranian, Caucasian, and sometimes Turkish carpets. Recognizable in its most fluid form as the Paisley pattern. The term enters English from Persian boteh بوته.

• Caravanserai: Places where, originally, camel caravans stopped to rest­ and buy supplies; later, they became trading centers and in many cases thriving towns. The term enters English from Persian karwansäray کاروان سرای.

• Carding: Process of combing wool either manually or mechanically.

• Chevron: A decorative motif formed by a series of concentric ‘V’s.

• Chi-chi: Chinese decorative motif of floating ribbons.

• Chi-lin: imaginary or legendary unicornlike quadruped, typical of the Chinese decorative repertoire.

• Ch’ing: the last Chinese dynasty, 1644-1912.

• Column (carpet): A term used to describe Anatolian carpets with a se­ries of columns supporting the mihrab (cf.) or niche.

• Copt: A term describing Christians in Egypt and Ethiopia. The term enters English from Arabic Qubt قبط, itself from Ancient Greek Aíguptos Αἴγυπτος which is ultimately from Egyptian ħawitkurpitaħ, a term meaning "the Temple of (the god) Pitaħ's Soul."

• Cochineal: Red dye obtained from the crushed and pulverized bodies of insects.

• Cloud Band: One of many variations of Chinese origin that is based on the shape of clouds. In some versions it resembles a ram’s horn.

• Chrome Dye: Improved azo dyes, fast and mordanted, introduced in this century. The uniform dying of the wool may result in a dead appearance compared with natural dyes.

• Damascene, Damascus (carpet): Term used in Venice in the 15th and 16th centuries to describe specific technical and decorative fea­tures of rugs and carpets. The term enters Enlish from Greek Damaskós Δαμασκός, itself from Syriac Darmsûq ܕܪܡܣܘܩ meaning "a well-watered land." 

• Dragon: A legendary creature depicted in Oriental carpets on the basis of the Chinese decorative scheme, consisting of twelve parts from twelve animals depicted in differing styles.

• Depressed Warp: Technique of weaving when alternate warps or groups of warps lie on different levels, increasing the thickness and giving the back a ribbed texture.

• Fabric: (or textile) something that is woven, either manually or mechani­cally.

• Farsh: Carpet in modern Persian. The term enters English from Persian färaş فراش, itself from Arabic färäşä فَرَشَ meaning "to spread."

• Flaming Pearl: Chinese symbol associated with dragons and with the fertility cult.

• Garden (carpet): A carpet decorated with the design of a typical Iranian garden.

• Gul: Meaning “flower” in Persian; this is the emblem and decorative motif peculiar to each Türkmen tribe. The term enters English from Persian gul گل.

• Herati: Named after the town of Herat, it is a floral motif used mainly in carpets woven in this region. It is now in Afğanistan, where the design is supposed to have originated. The Herati pattern consists of a lozenge of stems terminating in flower heads surrounding a central rosette, with four lanceolate leaves curving symmetrically between the flower heads. Found in many variations – angular, geometric, naturalistic, and formalized in carpets from almost every area. The term enters English from Persian Herat هرات.

• Hijrah: Literally the beginning of the Islamic calendar – the date that the Prophet Mohammed fled from Mecca to Medina. Corresponds to the year 622 C.E. in the Gregorian calendar. The term enters English from Arabic hicra هجرة meaning "migration."

• Holbein (carpet): Named after the painter Hans Holbein the Younger, who often depicted this particular type of carpet.

• Horror Vacui: The custom of filling every part of a rug or carpet with dense decoration.

• Il-Khanids: An Islamic Mongol dynasty that lasted from 1256-1353. The Mongol term il-xan comes from Turkic el-xan "khan of the nation."

• Islam: from Arabic meaning “abandonment, submission” and re­ferred to by Muhammad as the will of God; the term embraces all the rules contained in the Koran which forms the basis of Islamic civili­zation and culture.

• Jufti: (also double knot or false knot) a knot made on four or more warp chains rather than on the customary two chains. The term enters English from Persian cufti جفتی.

• Kerm: in Persian kerm کرم, meaning “(silk) worm” and also “red,” whence the English words “carmine” and “crimson.”

• Kermes: An insect from which a fine red dye was made. Widely used by European tapestry weavers in the 15th and 16th centuries.

• Kilim: A Turkish term used throughout the Orient to describe a flat rug or carpet without knots, made by hand, and double-sided. The term enters English from Turkish kilim, itself from Persian gelim كلیم.

• Kis: The so-called Kis-Ghiordes rugs and carpets were those woven by young Turkish women for their own use, hence the derivation from Turkish kız "girl, daughter."

• Koran: The holy book of Islam, dictated by God (Allah) to the Prophet Muhammad via the Archangel Gabriel. The term enters English from Arabic quraan قُرْآن, a verbal noun of "to read."

• Kufic: A type of geometric script originating from the Mesopotamian city of Kufa.

• Knot Count: The number of knots per square decimetre or inch, which determines the density or gauge of a carpet. as a rough guide the following table may be useful; Very coarse up to 500 per square decimetre (33 per square inch) Coarse 500-1000 per square decimetre (33-66 per square inch) Medium 900-1800 per square decimetre (60-120 per square inch) Fine 1800-2500 per square decimetre (120-166 per square inch) Very fine 2500-4500 per square decimetre (166-300 per square inch) Fine silk carpets have a knot count 15,000 or more per decimetre squared (1,000 per square inch).

• Lamp: (or mosque lamp) a decorative motif used in prayer rugs to indi­cate the direction of the rug, or for purely ornamental purposes.

• Loom: A structure with various interconnecting parts on which carpets and rugs are woven.

• Lotto (carpet): Named after the painter Lorenzo Lotto; a definition used as a rule in the same way as “Holbein carpet.”

• Lac: A deep crimson-red dye obtained from the extract of the female Tachardia Lacca, an insect indigenous to India.

• Maghreb: Name given to the countries of North Africa, with the exception of Egypt. The term enters English from Arabic mäğrib مغرب meaning "the place where the sun sets."

• Mamluks: A dynasty in Egypt and Syria of Turkic Qıpçaq origin, 1250-1517.

• Manufacture Nationale des Gobelins: From 1825 onward, the factory where French rugs and carpets were produced.

• Maqsud Kashani: Supervisor of the famous Ardabil carpet.

• Mausoleum: A large monumental tomb.

• Mihrab: The niche in the wall of the mosque that is directed toward Mecca and indicates the direction of prayer. The term enters English from Arabic mihräb محراب.

• Minbar: A sort of pulpit for the prayer leader. The term enters English from Arabic minbär منبر‎.

• Ming: A Chinese dynasty that lasted from 1368 to 1644.

• Miniaturist: (or illuminator) the artist who provides illustrations of partic­ular episodes contained in manuscripts.

• Moghul: An Islamic Mongol dynasty that ruled over India from 1526 to 1858. The term enters English from Persian Moğul مغول, itself from a Turkic corruption of Moŋğol.

• Mohair: From the Arabic word muxäyyär مخیر  meaning “choice,” referring to high-quality wool from goats.

• Mongols: A semi-nomadic tribe in Central Asia. The term enters English from the Mongolian ethnonym Moŋğol.

• Moon Tree: A very ancient astral symbol.

• Moorish (Moresque): The style in both Arab art and civilization in North Africa, Sicily, and in particular, Spain.

• Mosque: The Islamic equivalent of a church. The term enters English from French mosquée, itself from Italian moschea, and ultimately from Arabic mäscid مسجد.

• Mudejar: A term used in Spain for Moslems who were subjects of a Christian sovereign. The term enters English from Spanish mudéjar, itself from Arabic mudäccan مُدَجَّن meaning "domesticated."

• Muslim: (or Moslem) pertaining to or belonging to Islam, from the Arabic word muslim مسلم, meaning “one who submits.”

• Ottomans: A Turkish dynasty of Oghuz origin, 1281 to 1924. The term enters English from Greek Atumán Ἀτουμάν, itself from the eponymous Ottoman Sultan Osman I's original name Ataman. 

• Palmette: A floral form which probably takes its name from the palm frond which it resembled in Assyrian times. It may resemble a sliced artichoke, a vine leaf, or a stiffly drawn lotus blossom.

• Patchwork: A type of carpet originating from the Valtellina region, con­sisting of various “patches” sewn together.

• Phoenix: A mythical bird, sacred in various mythologies; in rugs and carpets it is generally depicted as a composite creature, taken from the Chinese decorative repertoire.

• Pile: The upper surface of a carpet, consisting of the knots.

• Polonaise or Polish (carpet): Iranian carpets from Isfahan or Kashan, many of which were discovered in Poland; in 1878 the collection belonging to Prince Czartoryski was exhibited in Paris.

• Prayer Rug: A small rug used for prayer, generally decorated with the mihrab motif, lamp, or other appropriate design.

• Pseudo-inscription: An imitation of an inscription with similar or partly accurate symbols and actual letters of the alphabet, but without any meaning and used for purely decorative purposes.

• Pseudo-Kufic: An imitation of the Kufic acript used for decorative pur­poses.

• Qashqai: A semi-nomadic tribe of Turkic Oghuz origin that settled in southern Iran. 

• Qibla: The direction of Mecca or, more precisely, of the ka’ba, which is the box in the main mosque in Mecca where the black stone is kept. The term enters English from Arabic qiblä قِبْلَة.

• Rococo (style): A term derived from French rocaille, which refers to an 18th-century artistic and stylistic movement with a focus on rich and luxurious decoration.

• Safavid: A Turko-Persian dynasty, 1501 to 1732. The term Safavid comes from Persian Säfävi صفوی, itself from Arabic säfiyy صفي, meaning "pure."

• Sasanian: A Pre-Islamic Persian dynasty, 224 to 651. The term Sasanian comes from the Persian plural of Säsän 𐭮𐭠𐭮𐭠𐭭, the eponymous founder of the Sasanian dynasty.

• Scroll: A fairly elaborate elongated ovoid form, named after a roll of paper with inscriptions.

• Scythians: A confederation of Asiatic tribes that inhabited the Eurasian Steppes. The term enters English from Latin Scythae, itself from Greek Skuthai Σκυθαι, ultimately from Eastern Iranic Skuɀa, a term essentially meaning "archer." While the bulk of Scythian tribes were Indo-European-speakers, their elite appeared to have been Turkic-speaking. 

• Sehna: Also called Sine or Senneh, is a city in the Kurdistan region now known as Sanandaj. It is the source for the name of the Sehna Knot, also known as the Farsi baff, which is used by Persian weavers. 

• Seljuks: A dynasty of Turkic Oghuz origin, 1038 to 1194 in Iran, 1077 to 1307 in Rum (Anatolia). The eponymous founder of the dynasty was named Sälçük سَلجُك. 

• Shaman: Known as a qam in Turkic languages, these individuals were capable of contacting spirits and entering a state of ecstasy by means of mystical practices. The word shaman comes from Evenki şamaan. The Evenki language, like the Turkic languages, belongs to the Altaic language family.

• Shah Abbas: ( 1587 – 1629 ) Considered by many as the most famous Persian monarch. He was a ruler of the Safavid dynasty.

• Shah Abbasi: Design of large palmettes and floral scrolling vines.

• Silk Road: A network of overland trade routes from China to the Near East, known above all for its most valuable and sought-after commodity: silk.

• Sultan Muhammad: A famous illuminator from the Safavid period.

• Sumak: A flat carpet made with threads which “hook” several warp chains, and are cut on the underside of the carpet.

• Sung: A Chinese dynasty, 960 to 1279.

• Sun-tree: A very ancient astral symbol.

• Swastika: An ancient sun symbol consisting of a cross with four equal arms, bent at right angles either to the left or the right.

• Tabachi: A Persian word denoting the coat of dead animals.

• Taj Mahal: A famous Islamic mausoleum at Agra in India.

• T`ang: A Chinese dynasty, 618 to 907.

• Taoist: From the Chinese word tao 道, “way”; the name of an ancient Chinese philosophy.

• Timurids: An Islamic dynasty of Mongol origin, 1370-1506.

• Transval (carpet): Anatolian carpets found in large numbers in churches in Transylvania.

• Tree of Life: Very old Oriental symbol of fertility and prosperity.

• Turkmen or Turkoman: An Oghuz Turkic people who are semi-nomadic, mostly inhabiting Central Asia. They are divided into various tribes and clans. Originally, Türkmän simply denoted an Oghuz who had converted to Islam; thus, the Turks of Turkey and Azerbaijan are also Turkmen. 

• Vase Carpet: A term denoting a type of Persian carpet made with a given technique, but not necessarily decorated with vases.

• Vishap: A mythical aquatic monster in Armenian mythology. The Armenian word Vişap վիշապ is ultimately from an Iranic language such as Avestan, where there exists the epitaph of dragon known as Vişaapa 𐬬𐬌𐬱𐬁𐬞𐬀.

• 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.

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