Russel

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An archaic term for a coarse, rough woollen cloth, once used for everyday garments and simple clothing
2. A rough, heavy woollen fabric of an older period, worn by ordinary people for practical everyday clothes
3. Historically, a coarse cloth made from wool, valued for its durability and used for plain working garments

Etymology: The word "russel" is a noun for a coarse woollen cloth, and its story begins with colour rather than with cloth. It comes from Old French "roussel", a diminutive of the Latin "russulus", which itself derives from "russus", meaning "red". The name points to a reddish or russet tint, which was the quality that gave the fabric its identity. The pattern is a familiar one in English: a colour word that became the name of a material. The Latin root "russus" also gave rise to the English colour "russet", so "russel" and "russet" share a common ancestry, though they reached English through different routes. Here the diminutive ending "-el" (from Latin "-ulus") simply marks something small or a little reddish in character.