1) A woollen fabric made from well-twisted yarn spun of long-staple wool, combed to lay the fibres parallel. Examples from 1296 confirm the derivation from the village of Worstead in Norfolk (OED).
In Yorkshire, the evidence dates from the early fourteenth century, and John Lister considered that ‘worsted beds’ was really a reference to blankets: 1310 sayes of Worstede
1347 mon vieil lit d rouge worstede
1401 ‘1 piece of wersted’, Hull
1455 vj qwisshyns de viridi et albo worsett, Wighill
1561 ij hodes lined with wyrsett vjs viijd, Richmond
1720 put six pounds of worset to spin to Mary Clough of Horton, Bradford
1741 a pair of worstit hose, Kirkburton
1755 dyed worstit yarn, Pudsey. It gave rise to a rare occupational name: 1805 George Saynor, worsiter, Thornhill.