wool

== English == === Etymology === From Middle English wolle, from Old English wull, from Proto-West Germanic *wullu, from Proto-Germanic *wullō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂. 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 === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /wʊl/ (General American) enPR: wo͝ol, IPA(key): /wʊl/, [wʊ̠ɫ], [wəl], [wul] (Scotland, Northern Ireland) IPA(key): /wʉl/ Rhymes: -ʊl === Noun === wool (usually uncountable, plural wools) The hair of the sheep, llama and some other ruminants. A cloth or yarn made from such hair. 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 A fine fiber obtained from the leaves of certain trees, such as firs and pines. (obsolete) Short, thick hair, especially when crisped or curled. (UK, New Zealand) Yarn, including that made from synthetic fibers. (Liverpool, derogatory) A woolly back; a resident of a satellite town outside Liverpool, such as St Helens or Warrington. See also Yonner. (slang) A marijuana cigarette or cigar laced with crack cocaine. Synonyms: wooler, woolie ==== Hyponyms ==== (cloth or yarn): felt, tweed, worsted ==== Coordinate terms ==== (hair of sheep): goathair, horsehair, qiviut ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Descendants ==== → Japanese: ウール (ūru) → Samoan: vulu ==== Translations ==== === References === “wool”, in Merriam-Webster.com Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present. “wool”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present. “wool”, in The Right Rhymes, launched 2013. === Further reading === wool on Wikipedia.Wikipedia == Cornish == === Noun === wool soft mutation of gool == Tlingit == === Noun === wool hole