From the link
http://www.sewing.org/files/guidelin...ting_terms.pdf
"Greige Goods (pronounced "gray")
Most fabric prints are applied to a solid color "raw" base
fabric referred to as griege goods. Fabric companies
may have several kinds of greige goods (flannel,
corduroy, jersey, etc.) to use with the same print, and
they may also have different qualities of greige goods
differentiated by thread counts (the number of threads
in a square inch). A single fabric company may print on
multiple qualities of greige goods for different types of stores
(independent quilt shops vs. chains vs. discount stores)."
When I first started quilting (which so far means a whole lot of piecework and very little actual quilting), I was building up my stash from JoAnn. Then I spent some time in Shipshewanna (Lolly's, Das Essenhaus, among too many others) and noticed the fabrics were way, way different. Not just in the prints available (never met a metallic I did not like!), but the feel of the fabrics. When I came across the above definition, I finally understood.