Etymograph

English

plush

Plush comes from French peluche ‘fluff, plush’, from Old French peluchier ‘to peel’, and ultimately from Latin pilus ‘hair’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpilus‘hair’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpiloas pilāre‘remove hair’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*pilūc(i)cārereconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400peluchier‘to peel’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentpeluche‘fluff, plush’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1897plush

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpilus‘hair’
  2. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEpiloas pilāre‘remove hair’
  3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CE*pilūc(i)cārereconstructed
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400peluchier‘to peel’
  5. Frenchc. 1600–presentpeluche‘fluff, plush’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1897plush

Earliest quotation: 1897, Winston Churchill: “Mr. Cooke had had a sloop yacht built at…”

The story

The fact that historically (in past centuries) plush upholstery was so expensive as to be socially exclusive undoubtedly connects the senses of "luxurious" and "soft".

Linked words

through Latin pilus ‘hair’

pile, pellet, pilar, peloton, pillage, 22 more

through Latin pilo ‘remove hair’

pill, compilation, peel, compile, 5 more

through Vulgar Latin *pilūc(i)cāre

pluck

Today it means

adj Very extravagant.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin pilus / plush

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