| Absorbency | "The ability of a fabric to take in moisture. Absorbency is a very important property, which effects many other characteristics such as skin comfort, static build-up, shrinkage, stain removal, water repellency, and wrinkle recovery." |
| Acetate | "A manufactured fiber formed by compound of cellulose, refined from cotton linters and/or wood pulp, and acedic acid that has been extruded through a spinneret and then hardened" |
| Acrylic | "A manufactured fiber derived from polyacrylonitrile. Its major properties include a soft, wool-like hand, machine washable and dryable, excellent color retention. Solution-dyed versions have excellent resistance to sunlight and chlorine degradation." |
| Alpaca | "A natural hair fiber obtained from the Alpaca sheep, a domesticated member of the llama family. The fiber is most commonly used in fabrics made into dresses, suits, coats, and sweaters." |
| Angora | The hair of Angora rabbit. |
| Anisotropic | A material which has different physical properties in different directions. |
| Anti-dumping duty | "An extra duty imposed on an imported product by an importing country (or group of countries, as in the case of the EU) to compensate for the dumping of goods by a foreign supplier." |
| AOX | Adsorbable organic halogens. |
| APEO | Alkylphenolethoxilate. |
| Appliqué | A pattern constructed by applying one fabric on top of another. |
| Aramid | "The generic name for a special group of synthetic fibres (aromatic polyamide) having high strength; examples are ""Kevlar"" and ""Twaron""." |
| Arran | A traditional style of fishermen's cable-knit sweaters. |
| Artificial fibres | - Please see cellulosic fibres. |
| ASEAN | "Association of South East Asian Nations-Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam." |
| Asphalt retention (geotextiles) | A measure of the amount of asphalt cement that can be held within the pores of a paving geotextile. |
| Astrakhan | A thick woven or knitted cloth with a surface of loops or curls which imitates the coat of an Astrakhan lamb. |
| Atactic | "A type of polymer molecule in which groups of atoms are arranged randomly above and below the backbone chain of atoms, when the latter are arranged all in one plane." |
| ATC | "The Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, which embodied the results of the negotiations on textiles and clothing conducted under the Uruguay Round of multilateral trade talks. The ATC provides for the phasing out of MFA quotas between January 1995 and |