Velvet

How to spell velvet

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce velvet

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does velvet mean?

1. nounA closely woven fabric with a soft, dense raised pile on one side, traditionally made of silk.
2. adjectiveMade of, covered with, or resembling the smooth softness of this fabric.

Velvet in a sentence

• noun

  The jewellery rested on a cushion of deep red velvet.

• adjective

  He wore a velvet jacket to the awards dinner.

• noun

  She chose a dark green velvet for the curtains in the study.

• adjective

  The dessert had a smooth, velvet texture on the tongue.

Where does velvet come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word comes ultimately from the Latin villus, which meant a tuft of hair or shaggy fibre, the very quality that gives velvet its dense, soft pile. From villus the Romance languages built words for the fabric, and English took it in the 1300s, likely through an Old French form such as veluotte or the Old Provencal veluet. The fabric itself was a luxury import from the East, so the term arrived alongside the costly cloth traded through medieval Italy and France. Over time velvet broadened from the literal silk pile to describe anything prized for its smooth, soft surface, as in a velvet voice or velvet petals. The same villus root survives in the biological term 'villi', the tiny hair-like projections lining the intestine, a tidy reminder that velvet was named for its hairs.

How the word is built

• velvet (from Latin villus: shaggy hair, tuft of fibres)
• diminutive ending preserved through Old French