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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Word of the Day for June 4, 1999
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mohair [n. MO-hair]
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Mohair is the long, silky hair of an angora goat, and it's both the
yarn and the fabric made from that hair. It is valued because it's
about three times as strong as wool, and mohair fabric is very
durable.
Is mohair the hair of a mo? No, this tricky word, which contains
"hair" and names a kind of hair, has its source in a word that is not
at all related to the English hair.
The original word in Arabic was mukhayyar (choice, select), which was
used to describe the very best yarn produced from angora goats, and
the finest fabric produced from that yarn. In Italian, it was
mocaiaro, and in Old English it was mocayere. Through "folk
etymology," in which words assume pronunciations or spellings that
seem to make more sense, the word became mohair.
More about mohair:
http://www.mohairusa.com//story.html
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