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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

fur.

The hairy coat of various mammal species, especially when fine, soft and thick.

3 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/fɜː/Australia, Received-Pronunciation/fəː/British, Southern, Standard/fɝ/Canada, General-American/fʌɾ/Scotland
  1. The hairy coat of various mammal species, especially when fine, soft and thick.

    uncountable
  2. The hairy skins of animals used as a material for clothing.

    uncountable
  3. An animal pelt used to make, trim or line clothing.

    countable
    During the colonial period, Britain used Canada as a major source of furs.
  4. A garment made of fur.

    countable
  5. A coating or lining resembling fur in function and/or appearance. A thick pile of fabric.

    uncountable
  6. A coating or lining resembling fur in function and/or appearance. The soft, downy covering on the skin of a peach.

    uncountable
  7. A coating or lining resembling fur in function and/or appearance. The deposit formed on the interior of boilers and other vessels by hard water.

    uncountable
  8. A coating or lining resembling fur in function and/or appearance. The layer of epithelial debris on a tongue.

    uncountable
  9. One of several patterns or diapers used as tinctures, such as ermine and vair.

    countable
  10. Rabbits and hares, as opposed to partridges and pheasants (called feathers).

    uncountable
  11. A furry, a member of the furry fandom.

    countable
  12. Human body hair, especially when abundant.

    informal · uncountable
  13. Pubic hair.

    slang · uncountable · vulgar
  14. Sexual attractiveness.

    slang · uncountable · vulgar
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-der. Proto-Germanic *fōdrą Frankish *fōdrbor. Anglo-Norman fuerrebor. Middle English furre English fur From Middle English furre, forre, from Anglo-Norman forre, fuerre (“case; sheath”), from Frankish *fōdar, from Proto-West Germanic *fōdr, from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą (“sheath”) (compare Old English fōdor (“sheaf”), Dutch voering (“lining”), German Futter (“lining”), Gothic 𐍆𐍉𐌳𐍂 (fōdr, “sheath”)), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-, *poh₂- (“to protect”) (compare Lithuanian piemuō (“protection”), Ancient Greek πῶῠ̈ (pôŭ̈, “flock”), πῶμα (pôma, “lid”), ποιμήν (poimḗn, “shepherd”), Old Armenian հաւրան (hawran, “herd, flock”), Northern Kurdish pawan (“to watch over”), Sanskrit पाति (pāti, “he watches, protects”). The verb is from Middle English furren, from Anglo-Norman furrer, forrer, fourrer (“to line, stuff, fill”), from the noun.

verb/fɜː/Australia, Received-Pronunciation/fəː/British, Southern, Standard/fɝ/Canada, General-American/fʌɾ/Scotland
  1. To cover with fur or a fur-like coating.

    transitive
  2. To become covered with fur or a fur-like coating.

    intransitive
  3. To level a surface by applying furring to it.

    transitive
Where this word comes from

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-der. Proto-Germanic *fōdrą Frankish *fōdrbor. Anglo-Norman fuerrebor. Middle English furre English fur From Middle English furre, forre, from Anglo-Norman forre, fuerre (“case; sheath”), from Frankish *fōdar, from Proto-West Germanic *fōdr, from Proto-Germanic *fōdrą (“sheath”) (compare Old English fōdor (“sheaf”), Dutch voering (“lining”), German Futter (“lining”), Gothic 𐍆𐍉𐌳𐍂 (fōdr, “sheath”)), from Proto-Indo-European *peh₂-, *poh₂- (“to protect”) (compare Lithuanian piemuō (“protection”), Ancient Greek πῶῠ̈ (pôŭ̈, “flock”), πῶμα (pôma, “lid”), ποιμήν (poimḗn, “shepherd”), Old Armenian հաւրան (hawran, “herd, flock”), Northern Kurdish pawan (“to watch over”), Sanskrit पाति (pāti, “he watches, protects”). The verb is from Middle English furren, from Anglo-Norman furrer, forrer, fourrer (“to line, stuff, fill”), from the noun.

conj
  1. Pronunciation spelling of for.

    alt-of · pronunciation-spelling
prep
  1. Pronunciation spelling of for.

    alt-of · pronunciation-spelling
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.