villus
.
Searchable Lemmata: villus (L).
Alternate Forms: uilla, villo, willus, willum.
Definitions and Defining Citations:
1a(n.)
Textile;
a Latin word originally meaning 'coarse, shaggy hair' or 'a tuft of hair'. In the medieval period, used also to refer to the nap, the fibres on the surface of a textile.(ante 1300 - circa 1500)
Sex: N/A Ceremonial: No
Body Parts: Leg.
1b(n.)
Textile;
specifically, the kind of cloth known as 'frieze' (q.v.) or 'frieze cloth', coarse fabric with a shaggy nap. Compare also vellous.(circa 1440 ?)
1. Frysare, or he þat frysythe clothe [vr. he þat makyþ ffrysyd cloth]: Villator. Fryse or frysyd [vr. fresyd] clothe: Pannus villatus. Fryse clothe: Villo. Frysynge of clothe: Villatura
Gloss.
[MED PParv. ((Hrl 221) 179) 1440]
Sex: N/A Ceremonial: No
Body Parts:
2(n.)
Furnishing;
in some sets of Old English glosses, apparently used as a substantive to mean 'coarse cloth', and equated with linen ryhae (see reowe) 'linen coverlet'.(ante 1100)
Sex: N/A Ceremonial: No
Body Parts:
3(n.)
Decoration;
in one Old English gloss, equated with wlo 'decoration, fringe'.(ante 800 - ante 1100)
Sex: N/A Ceremonial: No
Body Parts:
Etymological Evidence:
Definite, Classical Latin, from a root seen also in vellus (q.v.) 'wool, fleece'. The words vellous and velvet are derivatives of this word.
WF: Borrowed into the British Isles
Etym Cog:
References:
