wool

Etymology

From Middle English wolle, from Old English wull, from Proto-West Germanic *wullu, from Proto-Germanic *wullō, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂. Cognates Cognate with Saterland Frisian Wulle, German Low German Wull, Dutch wol, German Wolle, Norwegian ull; also Welsh gwlân, Latin lāna, Lithuanian vìlna, Russian во́лос (vólos), Slovak vlna, Bulgarian влас (vlas), Albanian lesh (“wool, hair, fleece”). Doublet of lana. 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).

noun

1. The hair of the sheep, llama and some other ruminants.
   The sheep were caught and plucked, because shears had not yet been invented to cut the wool from the sheep's back. 2006, Nigel Guy Wilson, Ancient Greece, page 692
2. A cloth or yarn made from the wool of sheep.
   Spielvogel said wet cleaning also has limitations; while it is fine for cottons and fabrics worn in warm climates, he said, it can damage heavy wools or structured clothes like suit jackets. January 12 2009, Mireya Navarro, “It May Market Organic Alternatives, but Is Your Cleaner Really Greener?”, in New York Times
3. Anything with a texture like that of wool.
   The groundsels have leaves covered in wool for insulation[…] 1975, Anthony Julian Huxley, Plant and Planet, page 223
4. A fine fiber obtained from the leaves of certain trees, such as firs and pines.
5. (obsolete) Short, thick hair, especially when crisped or curled.
6. (Britain, New Zealand) Yarn, including that made from synthetic fibers.
7. (Liverpool, derogatory) A resident of a satellite town outside Liverpool, such as St Helens or Warrington. See also Yonner.