Talk:Gauze

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Damn, how was there not a gauze page before now? There's already a big one on the band muslimgauze (not that that's relevant). Bobby P. Smith Sr. Jr. 07:55, 13 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Every now and then I'll find one of these, like unguent, grist, brat... I guess everyone was busy making episode guides for their favorite sci-fi show... Jokestress 08:15, 13 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

All too true. Someday I should just skip around in the dictionary for words that can be turned into actual non-wiktionary articles but probably haven't been. Bobby P. Smith Sr. Jr. 08:24, 13 March 2006 (UTC)[reply]

Petroleum Gauze?

What is it? Seems to have to do with wound dressings? --Cancun771 (talk) 12:52, 20 February 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Biased edit

This edit ignores several sources that do in fact attribute the etymology of Gauze to Gaza, that explicitly mention its key role in disseminating the fabric from the port of Gaza (which is why in Spanish it is Gasa). I invite anyone to peruse the literature. It is not one man's opinion . Plus, the edit detailed high quality sources explaining just that. It should be undone. 2A10:8012:15:2C4:B162:4C99:6E6C:7241 (talk) 19:59, 19 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

See also this revision for more sources. It is very clear that some editors are trying to downplay the connection to Gaza for political reasons. Please more eyes on this article are needed. 2A10:8012:15:2C4:B162:4C99:6E6C:7241 (talk) 14:25, 20 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Attempts to link "gauze" to "Gaza" began with Du Cange (cited on the page). Du Cange says that perhaps (forte) they are connected, and further speculates that Gaza may have originally produced the fabric (quod Gaza Palæstinæ urbe primitus advectum sit). He does not cite, and no one has ever discovered, any physical, linguistic, or historical evidence to suggest that gauze originated in Gaza, beyond the phonetic similarity of the two words. Du Cange (inadvertently?) emends the Baden text to refer to "gazzatum", thus retrojecting this similarity to the 13th century, but in fact Baden (cited on the page) referred to "garzatum".

Western scholars very often attempt etymologies like Du Cange's gauze proposal, because the names of cities are better known than any other form of vocabulary, and because their own histories are rarely understood, making for complete blanks which can serve any etymological function. One can as easily say "gauze must be from Gaza, which therefore must have been a textile center" as "gaze must be from Gaza, which must have invented telescopes" as "gas must be from Gaza, which must be one giant oil rig". It's very convenient. For a similar example, in popular sources you can easily read that "keffiyeh" comes from Kufa in modern Iraq, and that therefore Kufa must have some historical connection to the headdress. But actually there is no reason to think this, beyond the two words sounding vaguely similar to someone with a limited Semitic vocabulary, and more convincing proposals include cuffia (the Late Latin source of English "coif") and kubaya (the Aramaic word for head covering, related to Biblical Hebrew koba). GordonGlottal (talk) 14:05, 21 April 2024 (UTC)[reply]

Two separate meanings mixed up

For encyclopedia purposes, gauze has two quite different meanings, though both belong in this article:

1. Gauze is a woven fabric made in one specific way, and called "gauze" because it has that weave. (Under this meaning, there is no such thing as non-woven gauze.)

2. Gauze is a fabric intended to function in a certain way, and called "gauze" based on function. (Under this meaning, the way it's made is not important.)

I think the article should begin with something like the following. My wording is not important, I just want us to begin by saying there are two meanings, and it's important that this be the very first sentence in the article. Here's a rough draft:

Gauze has two meanings: it is a fabric made using a particular weaving technique, or any fabric functionally similar to it. TooManyFingers (talk) 19:19, 4 August 2024 (UTC)[reply]