mohair

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for July 28, 2009 is: mohair • \MOH-hair\ • noun : a fabric or yarn made wholly or in part of the long silky hair of the Angora goat; also : this hair Examples: This year's product line includes coats and sweaters made from mohair produced in Texas. Did you know? "Mohair" entered the English language in the 16th century, spelled variously as "mocayare," "mockaire," "mokayre," and "moochary." It was borrowed from Italian "mocaiarro," a word which itself was borrowed from Arabic "mukhayyar." The adjective "mukhayyar" meant "select" or "choice." How this Arabic adjective came to be the English noun "mohair" is a bit of a mystery. It is possible that "mukhayyar" was used as a colloquial noun in the sense of "wool of prime quality" (that is, "choice wool"). In English, the shift from "mocayare" and similar spellings to "mohair" was likely influenced by the more familiar English word "hair." See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.