hair
UK[heə(r)]US[her]
n
The mass of thin thread-like structures that grow on the head and body of people and animals
n
A single thread of this growth
Etymology
The word 'hair' descends directly from the Old English 'hǣr', a term common to the Germanic language family, related to Old Norse 'hár', Old High German 'hār', and Gothic 'hār'. These all trace back to the Proto-Germanic 'khēran', which itself is derived from the Proto-Indo-European root 'ker(s)-', meaning 'to bristle' or 'to stand on end'. This ancient root connects the physical nature of hair to the concept of stiff, projecting filaments, a semantic link preserved across millennia. The word's journey from a PIE root describing a bristly state to the modern English term for the fine filaments on the body illustrates a stable and direct evolution of both form and core meaning.
Analysis
This is a simplex word of Germanic origin. The Old English form was 'hǣr', which functioned as a noun meaning hair, a single hair, or hair collectively.
Examples
She has long, dark hair.
There's a hair in my soup.
The cat's hair was soft and silky.