ETYM Old Eng. her, heer, haer, as. haer; akin to OFries. hęr, Dutch and German haar, Old High Germ. and Icel. hâr, Dan. haar, Swed. har; cf. Lith. kasa.
Threadlike structure growing from mammalian skin. Each hair grows from a pit-shaped follicle of the outer skin layer (epidermal cells).
Hair consists of dead cells impregnated with the protein keratin.
The number of hairs on a human head varies from between 98,000 (red-heads) to 120,000 (blondes). Each grows at the rate of 0.2–0.4 in/5–10 mm per month, lengthening for about three years before being replaced by a new one. A coat of hair helps to insulate mammals by trapping air next to the body. It also aids in camouflage, and its coloring or erection may be used for communication.
(Homonym: hare).
1. A filamentous projection or process on an organism.
2. Any of the cylindrical filaments characteristically growing from the epidermis of a mammal and covering the body or parts of it.
3. Filamentous hairlike growth on a plant; SYN. fuzz, tomentum.