fur

Pronunciation: /fɝ/

Reading level: hard

Estimated CEFR level: B1 — Intermediate

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun the dressed hairy coat of a mammal
  2. noun dense coat of fine silky hairs on mammals (e.g., cat or seal or weasel)
  3. noun a garment made of the dressed hairy coat of a mammal

Etymology

From Middle English furre, forre, from Anglo-Norman forre, fuerre (“a case; sheath”), from Frankish *fōdar, from Proto-West Germanic *fōdr, from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą (“sheath”) (compare Old English fōdor (“sheaf”), Dutch voering (“lining”), German Futter (“lining”), Gothic 𐍆𐍉𐌳𐍂 (fōdr, “sheath”)), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-, *poh₂- (“to protect”) (compare Lithuanian piemuō (“protection”), Ancient Greek πῶῠ̈ (pôŭ̈, “flock”), πῶμα (pôma, “lid”), ποιμήν (poimḗn, “shepherd”), Old Armenian հաւրան (hawran, “herd, flock”), Northern Kurdish pawan (“to watch over”), Sanskrit पाति (pāti, “he watches, protects”). The verb is from Middle English furren, from Anglo-Norman furrer, forrer, fourrer (“to line, stuff, fill”), from the noun.

In classic literature

Synonyms

pelt

Semantic network

Broader (hypernyms)
animal skin
Narrower (hyponyms)
mink, seal, raccoon, chinchilla, sable, otter

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