the word 'velour' entered english in the early 18th century, borrowed directly from french. the french term 'velours' itself derives from the old french 'velous', meaning 'velvet'. this traces back further to the latin 'vellus', which originally meant 'fleece' or 'wool'. the semantic journey from 'fleece' to a type of plush fabric is clear, reflecting the material's soft, wool-like texture. english adopted the word to specifically denote a fabric with a soft, dense pile, similar to but distinct from velvet.

this word is a loanword from french and is not productively segmented using english morphemes.