Furs

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /fɝz/

Definitions

1. A variety of animal pelts, often sought after for warmth and style in fashion and home décor
2. The skins of animals preserved with their hair intact, often used to produce warm clothing or accessories
3. Pelts obtained from animals keeping their fur to provide insulation and ornamental garments

Etymology: The surprising part is that "fur" originally meant a lining, not an animal coat. Its ancestor word, the Old French "forrer" or "fourrer", meant "to line, stuff, or fill," and the noun came from that verb: a fur was the lining or padding sewn into a garment to keep the wearer warm. Lining cloth was often made from animal skins, so the material came to name the skins themselves, and the sense of the lining's raw material eventually replaced the sense of the lining as a process. The verb has deeper roots in the Germanic languages. Old English "fōdor" meant "sheaf," and related words in Dutch ("voering," lining) and German ("Futter," lining) keep the sense of a covering or sheath. Behind all of these lies a prehistoric root meaning "to protect," which also gave rise to words for shepherds and herds, suggesting that the earliest idea was of something that covers and guards. Plural "furs" is simply the form used when speaking of several pelts or several kinds of fur, and it shares the same origin as the singular.

Synonyms: pelts, skins, coats