English
villous
Villous comes from Latin villus ‘shaggy hair’, from vellus ‘fleece’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- ‘hair, wool’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂welh₁-1‘hair, wool’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvellus2‘fleece’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvillus3‘shaggy hair’
- Englishtodayvillous3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Latin vellus
- 2 Wiktionary, Latin villus
- 3 Wiktionary, English villous
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*h₂welh₁-Wiktionary, Latin vellus‘hair, wool’uncertain
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvellusWiktionary, Latin villus‘fleece’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEvillusWiktionary, English villous‘shaggy hair’
- EnglishtodayvillousWiktionary, English villous
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- ‘hair, wool’
value, wild, equivalent, valid, wool, valuation, vale, avail, valiant, wield, fluff, flannel, cuckold, vail, valour, lanolin, woll, valorous, 43 more
through Latin villus ‘shaggy hair’
Today it means
adj Hairy, covered with soft long hair.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “villous”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Latin vellus, Latin villus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁- / villous