GINGHAM is a woven cotton fabric, of a close stoutish texture, the distinguishing characteristics of which are that it is a plain (i.e., untwilled) cloth, woven into yarn-dyed stripes or checks of two or more colours. In some cases as many as seven or eight colours are introduced in the warp and weft of a gingham ; but no patterns are made that cannot be woven in a common plain loom. Gingham was originally an Indian product, but its manufacture was early introduced into the Lancashire and Glasgow districts ; and during the first half of the present century the trade formed an important feature in the textile industries of the latter locality—the demand for the fabric coming chiefly from the United States and the West Indies. The trade distinction of gingham is now to a large extent superseded by other terms.