villus Latin · revision 33588

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|attested=c. 180–102 BC, Lucilius}}

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''villus''' ''m'' (genitive villī); second declension^(Wiktionary)

+ Varro has the variant ''vellus''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is probably a dialect form of [[m|la|vellus|t=fleece]].^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary) De Vaan lists ⟨vellus⟩ among the derivatives of [[m|la|vellō|t=to pluck]], though the connection is disputed.^(de Vaan 2008) Köbler refers it to Pokorny's root [[ine-pro|*wel-|t=hair, wool]].^(Köbler 2010)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Köbler dates it from Cicero.^(Köbler 2010) The OLD cites Lucilius on soft rugs with huge tufts, ''amphitapae villis ingentibus''.^(OLD 2012)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It is a woolly or shaggy growth of hair, a tuft, especially of animals:^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Cicero, Virgil, Ovid and Martial use it of beasts' hair.^(Lewis & Short 1879) It is also the nap of cloth, as in Lucilius and in Virgil's napkins with shorn nap, and mossy growth on trees;^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879) Pliny the Elder uses it of cotton.^(Lewis & Short 1879) Its modern scientific use, with the plural ''villi'', for long slender hairs gave English [[m|en|villus]] in 1704.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 180–102 BC – Lucilius, of the tufts on rugs.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero, of animal hair.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 70–19 BC – Virgil, of animal hair and the nap of napkins.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1704 – Taken into English as ''villus''.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Shaggy [[m|en|hair]], a tuft of hair, especially of animals.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The [[m|en|nap]] of cloth; a mossy growth on trees.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vellus]]

+ * [[villōsus]]

+ * [[en|villus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}