wool

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See also: Wool

English

A sheep being shorn for its wool.

Etymology

From Middle English wolle, from Old English wull, from Proto-West Germanic *wullu, from Proto-Germanic *wullō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂.

Cognates
Cognate with Saterland Frisian Wulle, German Low German Wull, Dutch wol, German Wolle, Norwegian ull; also Welsh gwlân, Latin lāna, Lithuanian vìlna, Russian во́лос (vólos), Slovak vlna, Bulgarian влас (vlas), Albanian lesh (“wool, hair, fleece”). Doublet of lana.

The vowel development u → o → oo is purely graphical. Modern English generally avoids the string ‹wu› in favour of ‹wo›, and the resulting woll was then altered to wool (as supposedly better representing the pronunciation).

Pronunciation

Noun

wool (usually uncountable, plural wools)

  2. The hair of the sheep, llama and some other ruminants.
    • 2006, Nigel Guy Wilson, Ancient Greece, page 692:
      The sheep were caught and plucked, because shears had not yet been invented to cut the wool from the sheep's back.
  4. A cloth or yarn made from such hair.
    • 2009 January 12, Mireya Navarro, “It May Market Organic Alternatives, but Is Your Cleaner Really Greener?”, in New York Times:
      Spielvogel said wet cleaning also has limitations; while it is fine for cottons and fabrics worn in warm climates, he said, it can damage heavy wools or structured clothes like suit jackets.
  6. Anything with a fibrous texture like that of sheep's wool.
    Hyponyms: cotton wool; wood wool; mineral wool, rockwool, glass wool; wire wool, aluminum wool, brass wool, steel wool
    • 1975, Anthony Julian Huxley, Plant and Planet, page 223:
      The groundsels have leaves covered in wool for insulation […]
  8. A fine fiber obtained from the leaves of certain trees, such as firs and pines.
  9. (obsolete) Short, thick hair, especially when crisped or curled.
  11. (British, New Zealand) Yarn, including that made from synthetic fibers.
  13. (Liverpool, derogatory) A woolly back; a resident of a satellite town outside Liverpool, such as St Helens or Warrington. See also Yonner.
  15. (slang) A marijuana cigarette or cigar laced with crack cocaine.
    Synonyms: wooler, woolie
    • 1991 March 29, “Slow Down” (0:25 from the start), in One for All‎, performed by Brand Nubian:
      The object of your affection is the treetop connection / Where basically you love to smoke your wools
    • 2003 June 24, “Sabotage” (0:40 from the start), in The Ownerz‎, performed by Gang Starr:
      He rocked Caesar's chains, he pushed Caesar's Range / Smokin' mad wools all day, with Caesar's change
    • 2012, Chris Berdik, Mind Over Mind: The Surprising Power of Expectations, New York, N.Y.: Current, →ISBN, page 149:
      Lopez said the shooter's name was Lou, known on the street as Wool Lou, because he sold "wools," which were cigarettes rolled up with crack cocaine.

Hyponyms

Coordinate terms

Derived terms

Descendants

  • → Japanese: ウール (ūru)

Translations

References

Further reading

Cornish

Noun

wool

  1. Soft mutation of gool.

Tlingit

Noun

wool

  1. hole
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