Tasel

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. A tall prickly wild plant with spiny oval flower heads ; the dried spiky head of this plant, once used to brush up the nap on woven cloth
2. A spiny thistle-like plant of the teasel family ; the bristly dried flower head that was traditionally used to raise the surface fibres of wool
3. A coarse prickly herb with bristling flower heads ; a dried seed head of this plant used by weavers to fluff up the nap of fabric

Etymology: A tasel is an older spelling of teasel, the prickly plant whose dried flower heads were once the standard tool for raising the nap on woollen cloth. Its name goes back to Old English "tǣsel," which comes from the verb "tǣsan," meaning to pull apart. The plant was named for what it did: its hooked bracts were drawn across wet cloth to lift the fibres into a soft surface. The verb "tease" comes from the same Old English root. To tease once meant to comb or card fibres, such as wool or flax, so the sense of teasing someone is a later extension of that action of pulling and pricking. The plant's name is older than that figurative use, so the cloth trade sits behind both.