Vicuna

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /vɪˈkuːnjə/

Definitions

1. A South American camelid with fine, silky hair that is smaller and more slender than a llama, valued for its luxurious wool used in textiles
2. A small, slender South American relative of the llama prized for its exceptionally soft and fine fleece
3. A delicate hoofed mammal native to the Andes mountains, distinguished by its luxurious wool finer than cashmere

Etymology: The vicuña's name travelled a long way before reaching English. It comes from the Quechua "wik'uña", the word used by the Andean peoples of Peru and Bolivia for this wild camelid, and the Spanish of the colonial period took it over as "vicuña". English borrowed it from Spanish, so the word arrived in English as a piece of Andean vocabulary that passed through the Spanish conquest on its way. The animal itself is far older in the region than the word for it. Its fleece was so fine that under the Inca it was reserved for royalty, and the cloth woven from it was prized well beyond the highlands. That reputation for softness is the reason the English name still carries weight today: when people say "vicuña", they are naming a material as much as an animal.