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kar·a·kul also car·a·cul

(kărə-kəl)

1. Any of a breed of Central Asian sheep having a wide tail and wool that is curled, glossy, and usually black in the young but brownish or grayish in adults.

2. The pelt of a newborn or sometimes fetal karakul lamb, used for clothing.

3. Wool from a karakul sheep, used for carpet yarn and felting. In all senses also called astrakhan.

[After Karakul, a lake of eastern Tajikistan.]

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karakul

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The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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