From Malay 'rami'—a plant fiber cultivated for 6,000 years in China, stronger wet than dry.
A tropical Asian plant of the nettle family whose stems yield a strong, lustrous fiber used in textile production.
From Malay 'rami' (the plant fiber). One of relatively few textile terms borrowed from Southeast Asian languages. Ramie fiber has been cultivated in China for over 6,000 years, making it one of the oldest fiber crops, though the English word arrived late. Key