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mo·hair

(mōhâr′)

1. The long silky hair of the Angora goat.

2. Fabric or yarn made from this hair.

[Alteration (influenced by HAIR) of obsolete Italian mocaiaro, from Arabic muḫayyar, choice, select, mohair, passive participle of ḫayyara, to prefer, derived stem of ḫāra, to choose; see ḫyr in the Appendix of Semitic roots.]

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

Indo-European Roots

Semitic Roots

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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