Jacquard
A loom attachment, first made in France in the early nineteenth century, that lets each warp thread be raised on its own for complex patterns.
Also: jacquard loom, jacquard weave
The jacquard is a device on top of a loom that controls the warp threads one by one, using a chain of punched cards. Where there is a hole, the thread rises. This lets a weaver make large and detailed patterns, such as the figures and flowers of a brocade, without picking each thread by hand. It is named after Joseph Marie Jacquard, who developed it in France in the early 1800s. It reached India and was taken up in Varanasi and other centres. Modern jacquard looms use electronic control instead of cards. A jacquard saree can be woven by hand or by machine.