different between hair vs mohair

English

Etymology

From Middle English her, heer, hær, from Old English h?r, from Proto-Germanic *h?r? (“hair”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Hier (“hair”), West Frisian hier (“hair”), Dutch haar (“hair”), German Low German Haar (“hair”), German Haar (“hair”), Swedish and Norwegian hår (“hair”), Icelandic hár (“hair”). Eclipsed non-native Middle English cheveler, chevelere (“hair”), borrowed from Old French chevelëure (“hair, head-hair, coiffure, wig”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: hâr, IPA^(key): /h??/, /h??/, /h??/
• (US, Canada, Ireland) IPA^(key): /h?(?)?/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /he?/
  • (Victoria) IPA^(key): /h???/
• (General New Zealand) IPA^(key): [hi?]
• Homophone: hare
• Rhymes: -??(r)
• (General New Zealand) Homophones: here (cheer–chair merger), air, heir (cheer–chair merger and H-dropping)

Noun

hair (countable and uncountable, plural hairs) (but usually in singular)

1. (countable) A pigmented filament of keratin which grows from a follicle on the skin of humans and other mammals.

   • Then read he me how Sampson lost his hairs.

   • And draweth new delights with hoary hairs.
2. (uncountable) The collection or mass of such growths growing from the skin of humans and animals, and forming a covering for a part of the head or for any part or the whole body.
   • 1900, Charles W. Chesnutt, The House Behind the Cedars, Chapter I:

     Her abundant hair, of a dark and glossy brown, was neatly plaited and coiled above an ivory column that rose straight from a pair of gently sloping shoulders, clearly outlined beneath the light muslin frock that covered them.

3. (zoology, countable) A slender outgrowth from the chitinous cuticle of insects, spiders, crustaceans, and other invertebrates. Such hairs are totally unlike those of vertebrates in structure, composition, and mode of growth.
4. (botany, countable) A cellular outgrowth of the epidermis, consisting of one or of several cells, whether pointed, hooked, knobbed, or stellated.

5. (countable, engineering, firearms) A locking spring or other safety device in the lock of a rifle, etc., capable of being released by a slight pressure on a hair-trigger.
6. (obsolete) Haircloth; a hair shirt.
   • c. 1390, Geoffrey Chaucer, "The Second Nun's Tale", The Canterbury Tales:

     She, ful devout and humble in hir corage, / Under hir robe of gold, that sat ful faire, / Hadde next hir flessh yclad hir in an haire.
7. (countable) Any very small distance, or degree; a hairbreadth.

8. (slang, uncountable) complexity; difficulty; quality of being hairy
   • Barack Obama

     Having said all that, those who argue that legalizing marijuana is a panacea and it solves all these social problems I think are probably overstating the case. There is a lot of hair on that policy.

Usage notes

• The word hair is usually used without an article in singular number when it refers to all the hairs on one's head in general. But if it refers to more than one hair, a few hairs, then it takes the plural form with an article and needs a plural verb.

• Adjectives often applied to "hair": long, short, curly, straight, wavy, dark, blonde, black, brown, red, blue, green, purple, coarse, fine, healthy, damaged, messy, beautiful, perfect, natural, dyed.

Derived terms

Related terms

• depilatory

Translations

Verb

hair (third-person singular simple present hairs, present participle hairing, simple past and past participle haired)

1. (transitive) To remove the hair from.
2. (intransitive) To grow hair (where there was a bald spot).
3. (transitive) To cause to have or bear hair; to provide with hair
4. To string the bow for a violin.

Translations

Anagrams

• Hari, Hira, Ihar, Riha, riah

Irish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ha??/

Verb

hair

1. h-prothesized form of air

Noun

hair

1. h-prothesized form of air

Middle English

Etymology 1

Noun

hair (plural haires)

1. Alternative form of her (“hair”)

Etymology 2

Noun

hair (plural haires or hairen)

1. Alternative form of here (“haircloth”)

Etymology 3

Adjective

hair

1. Alternative form of hor (“hoar”)

Etymology 4

Noun

hair

1. Alternative form of heir (“heir”)

Old French

Alternative forms

• hadir, ha?ir, haïr

Etymology

From Frankish *hattjan.

Verb

hair

1. to hate

Conjugation

This verb conjugates as a third-group verb. First person singular present hez and present subjunctives are inherited from Frankish with regular sound changes of *-ttj- > -z/c-. Old French conjugation varies significantly by date and by region. The following conjugation should be treated as a guide.

Related terms

• haïne

Descendants

• Middle French: haïr
  • French: haïr
• Norman: haï

English

Etymology

Earlier mocayre, from Middle French mocayart and Italian mocaiardo, mocaiarro, both from Arabic ????????? (mu?ayyar, “choice”), past participle of ???????? (?ayyara, “to choose”). Form probably influenced by hair. Compare mockado, moire.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?m??h??/

Noun

mohair (countable and uncountable, plural mohairs)

1. Yarn or fabric made from the hair of the angora goat, often as mixed with cotton or other materials.
2. The long, fine hair of the Angora goat.
3. An Angora goat.

Descendants

• ? French: moire (semi-learned), ? mohair
  • ? Italian: amoerro, amoerre, moerro, muerre (semi-learned), ? moire
• ? Italian: mohair
• ? Japanese: ??? (mohea)
• ? Portuguese: mohair
• ? Russian: ?????? (moxér)
• ? Spanish: mohair
• ? Chinese:
  • Mandarin: ???/??? (m?h?imáo)
  • Cantonese: ??? (maa⁵ hoi² mou⁴)

Translations

Anagrams

• Mahori, Moriah

French

Noun

mohair m (plural mohairs)

1. mohair

Italian

Etymology

From French mohair, itself a borrowing from English mohair, from Italian mocaiardo, mocaiarro, from Arabic ?????????? (mu?ayyar, “choice”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mo??r/

Noun

mohair m (uncountable)

1. mohair (fiber)

Related terms

• amoerro
• moire

References

• mohair in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Portuguese

Noun

mohair m (uncountable)

1. mohair (fine hair of the Angora goat)

Romanian

Etymology

From French mohair.

Noun

mohair n (plural mohairuri)

1. mohair

Declension

Spanish

Noun

mohair m (plural mohaires)

1. mohair