• n. A term from the Old English "hęfedl". It is the loop of the thread through which an end is passed so that it could be raised or lowered to open the shed to allow the passage of the pick.

• http://vocab.getty.edu/aat/300247544 (Silk Heritage Thesaurus)

• Heddle frame
• Leash
• Shaft
• Shed

• CIETA. Vocabulary of technical terms of fabrics (English, French, Italian, Spanish). Lyon: Centre  International d’Etude des Textiles Anciens, 1964; Burnham, Dorothy. Warp and Weft. A Textile Terminology. Royal Ontario Museum, 1980; Simpson, John; Weiner, Edmund (eds). The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford : Clarendon Press ; Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 1989. [www.oed.com]

http://data.silknow.org/vocabulary/428