a bulky woolen fabric woven of coarse yarn and heavily napped, formerly much used in England and Scandinavia for the manufacture of durable winter garments.
Also, wadmaal, wadmel, wadmol, wadmoll.
Origin
1350-1400;Middle English < Old Norsevathmāl, equivalent to vāth cloth (cognate with Old Englishwæd; see weed2) + māl measure (see piecemeal)
British Dictionary definitions for wadmal
wadmal
/ˈwɒdməl/
noun
1.
a coarse thick woollen fabric, formerly woven esp in Orkney and Shetland, for outer garments
Word Origin
C14: from Old Norse vathmal, from vath cloth + mal measure