wool

Pronunciation

• IPA: /wʊl/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English wolle, inherited from Old English wull,^[2][3][4][5] from Proto-Germanic *wulnō,^[2][3] cognate with Old Frisian wolle, Dutch wol, Old High German wolla (modern German Wolle) and Old Norse ull,^[2][3][4] from Proto-Indo-European *wele- (“wool”), the source also of Latin lāna (“wool”), vellus (“fleece”), Ancient Greek ληνός (lēnós, “wool”) and Lithuanian vilna.^[3][2][4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fine soft hair forming the coat of sheep: about 725 in the OED, before 800 in Barnhart.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

Wool has been the most important clothing material in cold and temperate lands.^[3] Comparisons like white as wool are from about 825,^[6] and the whole fleece is wool from about 1400.^[6] The soft under-hair of other animals is from 1605.^[6] To pull the wool over someone's eyes is first recorded of an American lawyer in the mid-19th century, perhaps alluding to a curly wig,^[7] and wild and woolly is from the late 19th century.^[7] Woollen is probably from before 1300.^[2] In Kent to wool a horse was to twist a chain round a stubborn horse to make it obey.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 725 – wool.^[6]
• probably before 1300 – woollen.^[2]
• c. 1400 – a fleece.^[6]
• 1605 – the under-hair of other animals.^[6]
• mid-19th century – to pull the wool over someone's eyes.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The soft, often curly hair forming the coat of sheep and some other animals, such as goats and alpacas.
2. Yarn spun from this hair, used for knitting and weaving.
3. Cloth or a garment made of this yarn.
4. Any of certain fibrous materials: steel wool.
5. (informal) Short, thick, curly hair.

Word family

• woollike
• dyed-in-the-wool
• nonwool
• underwool
• wood-wool
• wooled
• woolfell
• woolgathering

Related words

• woollen
• woolly
• lanolin
• flannel

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)