The linen glossary, from French to darija
Percale, pocket depth, GSM, dobby border… linen has its own vocabulary — and in Morocco it is spoken in three languages: the French technical term, the Arabic of the label and the darija of everyday life (a sheet is a lizar, a towel a fouta). Each definition below bridges the three and points to the relevant products and guides.
To go beyond the definition:the 18 practical guides.
- Bed throw (bedspread)غطاء سرير خفيف للزينةA bed throw is a decorative piece of fabric laid over the made bed — across the whole surface or as a band at the foot of the bed (then called a bed runner). Unquilted and lighter than a boutis, it structures the room visually, protects the white linen during the day and comes off at bedtime.
- Bedding setطقم أغطية السريرA bedding set is the coordinated ensemble that dresses the bed: at minimum a duvet cover with its matching pillowcases, often completed by a fitted sheet — it is then called a complete set. The term insists on coordination: same fabrics, same shade, matching finishes.
- Bourdon stitch (finish)تطريز البردونBourdon is a dense, raised embroidery stitch worked in thick thread that underlines the edge of a linen piece — typically one or two parallel lines a few centimetres from the edge of a pillowcase, flat sheet or duvet cover. It is the signature finish of high-end hotel linen: sober and graphic, it dresses white linen without any pattern.
- Boutis (quilted bedspread)غطاء سرير مبطّن خفيفA boutis is a quilted bedspread of Provençal origin: two fabrics stitched together over a light filling, drawing raised motifs. By extension, the word now covers most light quilted bedspreads that dress the bed by day and serve as an extra layer in mid-season.
- Calenderingالكي الصناعي بالأسطواناتCalendering is the industrial pressing of flat linen: sheets, covers and pillowcases pass between the heated cylinders of a calender (roller ironer), which dries, smooths and polishes the fabric in a single pass. It is what gives hotel sheets their impeccably taut, faintly satiny look.
- Cash on delivery (COD)الدفع عند الاستلامCOD — cash on delivery — means paying for the order in cash, to the courier, at the moment the parcel is received. It is the dominant payment method of Moroccan e-commerce: 83.8% of online buyers use it (ANRT ICT survey 2024), far ahead of card payment.
- Cotton sateenساتان القطنCotton sateen is a satin-weave fabric: the warp threads "float" over several weft threads, creating a slightly lustrous, silky, fluid surface. Like percale, it is a weave and not a fibre — a cotton sateen is still cotton, with no silk in it at all.
- Deep pocket (fitted sheet)عمق الملاءة المشدودةThe pocket of a fitted sheet is the depth of the elasticated "cap" that wraps the mattress — the distance between the sleeping surface and the elastic edge, in centimetres. A 25 cm pocket suits a mattress up to 20 cm thick; a 30 cm pocket, our standard, wraps mattresses up to 27-30 cm without slackening overnight.
- Dobby border (liteau)شريط الفوطة المنسوجThe dobby border — "liteau" in French linen vocabulary — is the woven band that runs across a towel or bath sheet near each end: a flat, loop-free zone, often decorated with stripes or a jacquard. Inherited from service linen (it made pieces easy to identify and hang), it has become a marker of hotel bath linen.
- FoutaفوطةThe fouta is the traditional flat towel of the Maghreb — we keep the darija word untranslated: a rectangle of woven cotton, often in waffle weave or a flat weave with fringes, used at the hammam, at the beach and increasingly in decoration (as an armchair throw or a tablecloth). In Moroccan darija, "fouta" (فوطة) actually means any towel — the hammam one as much as the bathroom one.
- Free-delivery threshold (franco)التوصيل المجاني ابتداءً من مبلغ محدد"Franco" — short for the French franco de port, carriage paid — means delivery costs are borne by the seller from a given purchase amount upward: the free-delivery threshold. Below it, delivery is charged; above it, it is free. The term is inherited from wholesale trade and ubiquitous in B2B textiles.
- GSM (g/m²)الوزن بالغرام للمتر المربع (غ/م²)GSM measures a textile's mass per unit of area, in grams per square metre (g/m²). It is the number-one indicator of a terry fabric's density: a 400 g/m² towel is light and quick-drying but absorbs little; 550 g/m² — the hotel standard — hits the softness/absorbency/drying balance hotels and guesthouses look for; above 600-700 g/m² you are in spa and bath-mat territory.
- Hem (and finishes)الحاشيةThe hem is the stitched fold that finishes the edge of a linen piece and stops it fraying. On a quality flat sheet, the head hem (face side) is wide — 4 to 8 cm, sometimes underlined with a bourdon stitch — and the foot hem narrower; on a pillowcase, the housewife closure (inner flap) does away with buttons.
- Lizarالإيزار / الملاءة"Lizar" (الإيزار, also pronounced izar) is THE Moroccan darija word for the bed sheet — the one you hear at the souk, at home and from housekeepers ("bdel lizarat": change the sheets). Common plural: lizarat, or the Frenchified "drapate" (درابات, from the French "drap"). Written standard Arabic prefers ملاءة (mulā'a) or شرشف (charchaf, understood through Middle Eastern TV series).
- Mattress protectorواقي المرتبةThe mattress protector is the piece that sits between the mattress and the fitted sheet to shield the former from perspiration, stains and wear. Available as an elasticated cover (fitted-sheet style) or a flat pad with corner straps, absorbent (cotton molleton) or waterproofed (with a membrane), it extends a mattress's life by years.
- Molleton (brushed cotton)الملطونMolleton is a cotton fabric brushed on one or both faces, thick and downy, used mainly for absorbent mattress and pillow protectors. The brushing traps air: it insulates, cushions and absorbs moisture — the bed's invisible layer of comfort and protection.
- Oeko-Texأويكو-تكسOeko-Tex Standard 100 is an international label certifying that a textile has been tested against several hundred harmful substances (heavy metals, formaldehyde, pesticides, azo dyes…) and meets strict thresholds, tougher than the regulation for articles in contact with skin. It covers the finished product, not how the fibre was grown — the difference with GOTS, which certifies organic cotton.
- PercaleالبركالPercale is a tight, plain-weave cotton (or polycotton) fabric of at least 78 threads per square inch, giving a matte, smooth cloth that feels cool to the touch. It is the reference weave of the hotel industry: its density gives it high mechanical resistance to repeated washing and calendering, and its matte face keeps a crisp look even after dozens of cycles.
- PolycottonبوليكوتونPolycotton is a fabric blending cotton and polyester fibres, most often in equal parts (50/50). The blend stacks the strengths of both: cotton brings softness and breathability, polyester brings strength, dimensional stability (little shrinkage) and fast drying. A polycotton sheet dries roughly twice as fast as pure cotton and barely needs ironing.
- Terry (loop pile)قماش الفوط الحلقيTerry is the fabric towels are made of: a ground weave into which extra yarns form thousands of small loops on one or both faces. Those loops are what absorb water — the denser, taller and longer-fibred they are, the more the towel absorbs and the softer it stays. In Moroccan darija, any towel is simply called a "fouta".
- Thread count (threads/cm²)كثافة الخيوطThread density counts the warp and weft threads per unit of surface in a flat fabric — expressed in threads/cm² in Europe (57, 80, 120 threads) or as "thread count" per square inch under Anglo-Saxon standards (180 TC, 300 TC…). The higher the density, the tighter, smoother and stronger the fabric — up to a point.
- Waffle weave (honeycomb)نسيج خلية النحلWaffle — or honeycomb — is an embossed weave forming small, regular cells, used for hammam foutas, lightweight towels and some bed covers. With no loops, it is thinner and less absorbent than terry, but it dries much faster, takes a third of the storage space and weighs far less to carry.