Lanuginous

Part of speech: adjective

Pronunciation: /ləˈnjuːd͡ʒɪnəs/

Definitions

1. Having a surface covered with very fine, soft, and light hairs resembling down
2. Describing something that is coated in a delicate, fluffy layer of hair or fuzz
3. Characterized by a soft, woolly or downy covering on an object or organism

Etymology: Latin "lāna" meant wool, and from it came "lānūgō," a word for the soft down or woolly substance that covers certain plants and animals. Adding the Latin adjective ending "-ōsus," meaning "full of," produced "lānūginōsus," something covered in that fine down. English borrowed the term in its Latinate form, "lanuginose," and later the shorter "lanuginous" became the more common spelling. The word therefore describes nothing more exotic than a soft, downy surface, the kind found on a peach or a young leaf. Its roots are entirely in wool, which is why a word for fuzz sits so comfortably beside its ancestor "lana," the same stem that gives English "lanolin," the grease naturally found in sheep's wool.

Synonyms: fluffy, downy