velvet English · revision 39706

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=borrowing|attested=1320, Wardrobe Accounts of Edward II|origins=la villus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * UK: /ˈvɛlvɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+ * US: /ˈvɛlvɪt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It came into Middle English as ''veluet'', ''velvet'', [[bor|fro|veluotte]], a noun formed on [[m|fro|velu|t=velvety, shaggy]],^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010)^(Hoad 1986)^(Ayto 2005) from [[la-med|villūtus|t=shaggy]], from [[la|villus|t=shaggy hair, tuft, nap]].^(SOED 2002)^(ODE 2010)^(Dictionary.com 2016)^(MWU 2024) Etymonline gives the immediate source as Anglo-French and Old French ''velvet'',^(Etymonline) and Barnhart and the American Heritage Dictionary think it probably came by way of [[m|pro|veluet]], from [[la-vul|*villūtittus]], a diminutive of [[m|la-vul|*villūtus]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(AHD 2024)^(Etymonline) The OED instead takes it from [[m|la-med|velvetum]] (also [[m|la-med|veluetum]]), which seems to stand for a Romance diminutive of the type behind [[m|it|velluto]] and [[m|es|velludo]].^(OED 2026) Weekley thought the ''-v-'' was a misreading of the ''-u-'' in the Anglo-Norman ''veluet''.^(Weekley 1921) Barnhart and Etymonline take ''villus'' as probably a dialect form of [[m|la|vellus|t=fleece]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) and Barnhart traces it to [[ine-pro|*wel-|t=hair, wool]].^(Barnhart 1988) Ayto notes that velvet is thus etymologically a "hairy" or "downy" fabric.^(Ayto 2005)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A silk fabric with a short, dense, smooth pile on one side: 1320, in the wardrobe accounts of Edward II.^(OED 2026) Barnhart has the spelling ''veluett'' in 1327 and ''velvet'' in 1351,^(Barnhart 1988) and Etymonline dates it to the early 14th century.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the early 15th century the word was used for the soft downy skin covering a deer's growing antler (a1425, in the ''Master of Game'').^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Figurative and allusive uses, for something soft and smooth, are recorded from the 1590s,^(OED 2026)^(Etymonline) and Johnson (1755) gave the adjective as "made of velvet" and "soft, delicate", with Shakespeare's "velvet friends".^(Johnson 1755) The phrase ''on velvet'', in a comfortable or advantageous position, appears in 1749, in John Cleland,^(OED 2026) and in American slang ''velvet'' came to mean gain or winnings, especially money won easily (1901).^(OED 2026)^(Collins 2023) Etymonline dates the image of the ''velvet glove'' for a gentle manner to 1850, often paired with the ''iron fist'',^(Etymonline) and the Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins dates the saying "an iron fist in a velvet glove" to the 1830s, when it was attributed to Napoleon.^(Cresswell 2021) The ''velvet revolution'' of 1989 in Czechoslovakia took its name from the smoothness of the change.^(Cresswell 2021) In 17th–18th-century thieves' cant ''velvet'' meant the tongue.^(GDoS)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1320 – a silk fabric with a short, dense pile.^(OED 2026)

+ * c1386 – a piece of velvet, in Chaucer's Squire's Tale.^(OED 2026)

+ * a1425 – the soft skin on a growing antler.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1594 – figurative and allusive uses.^(OED 2026)

+ * c1698 – (cant) the tongue.^(GDoS)

+ * 1749 – ''on velvet'', in an advantageous position.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1851 – a velvet dress.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1864 – verb, to make like velvet or cover with velvet.^(OED 2026)

+ * 1901 – (slang) gain, winnings.^(OED 2026)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A woven [[fabric]] of silk, cotton or a synthetic fibre with a thick, soft, short [[pile]] on one side: ''a jacket of dark green velvet''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # Anything with a soft, smooth surface like this fabric; smoothness or softness.^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+ # The furry skin that covers a deer's [[antler|alt=antlers]] while they are growing.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)^(OED 2026)

+ # (slang, chiefly US) Money won or gained, especially easily; [[profit]].^(Collins 2023)^(OED 2026)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Made of or covered with velvet; soft and smooth like velvet: ''the velvet dark of a summer night''.^(Collins 2023)^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[velvetlike]]

+ * [[velvetleaf]]

+ * [[velveteen]]

+ * [[black velvet]]

+ * [[crushed velvet]]

+ * [[velvet ant]]

+ * [[velvet bean]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[velour]]

+ * [[velvety]]

+ * [[villus]]

+ * [[wool]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}