The English term matchcoat derives from an Algonquian root word relating to clothing or dress in general. During the seventeenth century matchcoat came to refer to European-made units of woolen cloth, generally about two meters (a ''fathom'') long, that were traded to natives who wore them as loosely wrapped cloaks. Some English-speaking scholars have erroneously emphasized the word match, inferring that ''matchcoats'' were garments that were pieced together from small units, or matched in a way that resembled techniques used by natives to make cloaks from pelts. The common ''blanket'' worn by the stereotypical ''Indian'' of that period also was called a matchcoat. Native-made garments, often described in the early literature, were rapidly replaced by these pieces of trade cloth. The term matchcoat was being applied to ''made up'' or off-the-rack tailored sleeved coats by the s. The use of increasingly elaborate trade-cloth coats reveals progressive adoption of European garments among all of the native peoples of the Northeast.