indigo — /ˈindəˌɡō/

1. a tropical plant of the pea family, which was formerly widely cultivated as a source of dark blue dye. 2. the dark blue dye obtained from the indigo plant. A color between blue and violet in the spectrum.

The Japanese word for a variety of ways of embellishing textiles by shaping cloth and securing it before dyeing. The word comes from the verb root shiboru, "to wring, squeeze, press." Although shibori is used to designate a particular group of resist-dyed textiles, the verb root of the word emphasizes the action performed on cloth, the process of manipulating fabric.