Category:Hair

Hair, n. Etym: [OE. her, heer, hær, AS. hær; akin to OFries, her, D. & G. haar, OHG. & Icel. har, Dan. haar, Sw. hår; cf. Lith. kasa.]

1. The collection or mass of filaments growing from the skin of an animal, and forming a covering for a part of the head or for any part or the whole of the body.

2. One the above-mentioned filaments, consisting, in invertebrate animals, of a long, tubular part which is free and flexible, and a bulbous root imbedded in the skin. Then read he me how Sampson lost his hairs. Chaucer. Bows for violins are made with horse hairs.

3. Hair (human or animal) used for various purposes; as, hair for stuffing cushions.

4. (Zoöl.)

Defn: A slender outgrowth from the chitinous cuticle of insects, spiders, crustaceans, and other invertebrates. Such hairs are totally unlike those of vertebrates in structure, composition, and mode of growth.

5. An outgrowth of the epidermis, consisting of one or of several cells, whether pointed, hooked, knobbed, or stellated. Internal hairs occur in the flower stalk of the yellow frog lily (Nuphar).

6. A spring device used in a hair-trigger firearm.

7. A haircloth. [Obc.] Chaucer.

8. Any very small distance, or degree; a hairbreadth.

Note: Hairs is often used adjectively or in combination; as, hairbrush or hair brush, hair dye, hair oil, hairpin, hair powder, a brush, a dye, etc., for the hair. Against the hair, in a rough and disagreeable manner; against the grain. [Obs.] "You go against the hair of your professions." Shak. -- Hair bracket (Ship Carp.), a molding which comes in at the back of, or runs aft from, the figurehead. -- Hair cells (Anat.), cells with hairlike processes in the sensory epithelium of certain parts of the internal ear. -- Hair compass, Hair divider, a compass or divider capable of delicate adjustment by means of a screw. -- Hair glove, a glove of horsehair for rubbing the skin. -- Hair lace, a netted fillet for tying up the hair of the head. Swift. -- Hair line, a line made of hair; a very slender line. -- Hair moth (Zoöl.), any moth which destroys goods made of hair, esp. Tinea biselliella. -- Hair pencil, a brush or fine hair, for painting; -- generally called by the name of the hair used; as, a camel's hair pencil, a sable's hair pencil, etc. -- Hair plate, an iron plate forming the back of the hearth of a bloomery fire. -- Hair powder, a white perfumed powder, as of flour or starch, formerly much used for sprinkling on the hair of the head, or on wigs. -- Hair seal (Zoöl.), any one of several species of eared seals which do not produce fur; a sea lion. -- Hair seating, haircloth for seats of chairs, etc. -- Hair shirt, a shirt, or a band for the loins, made of horsehair, and worn as a penance. -- Hair sieve, a strainer with a haircloth bottom. -- Hair snake. See Gordius. -- Hair space (Printing), the thinnest metal space used in lines of type. -- Hair stroke, a delicate stroke in writing. -- Hair trigger, a trigger so constructed as to discharge a firearm by a very slight pressure, as by the touch of a hair. Farrow. -- Not worth a hair, of no value. -- To a hair, with the nicest distinction. -- To split hairs, to make distinctions of useless nicety.

In other languages, the word for "hair" is:
Chamorro: gapotulu

- ---excerpt from the Illustrated Bible Dictionary

Hair - (1.) The Egyptians let the hair of their head and beard grow only when they were in mourning, shaving it off at other times. "So particular were they on this point that to have neglected it was a subject of reproach and ridicule; and whenever they intended to convey the idea of a man of low condition, or a slovenly person, the artists represented him with a beard." Joseph shaved himself before going in to Pharaoh (Genesis 41:14). The women of Egypt wore their hair long and plaited. Wigs were worn by priests and laymen to cover the shaven skull, and false beards were common. The great masses of hair seen in the portraits and statues of kings and priests are thus altogether artificial. (2.) A precisely opposite practice, as regards men, prevailed among the Assyrians. In Assyrian sculptures the hair always appears long, and combed closely down upon the head. The beard also was allowed to grow to its full length. (3.) Among the Greeks the custom in this respect varied at different times, as it did also among the Romans. In the time of the apostle, among the Greeks the men wore short hair, while that of the women was long (1 Corinthians 11:14, 1 Corinthians 11:15). Paul reproves the Corinthians for falling in with a style of manners which so far confounded the distinction of the sexes and was hurtful to good morals. (See, however, 1 Timothy 2:9, and 1 Peter 3:3, as regards women.) (4.) Among the Hebrews the natural distinction between the sexes was preserved by the women wearing long hair (Luke 7:38; John 11:2; 1 Corinthians 11:6), while the men preserved theirs as a rule at a moderate length by frequent clipping. Baldness disqualified any one for the priest's office (Leviticus 21). Elijah is called a "hairy man" (2 Kings 1:8) from his flowing locks, or more probably from the shaggy cloak of hair which he wore. His raiment was of camel's hair. Long hair is especially noticed in the description of Absalom's person (2 Samuel 14:26); but the wearing of long hair was unusual, and was only practiced as an act of religious observance by Nazarites (Numbers 6:5; Judges 13:5) and others in token of special mercies (Acts 18:18). In times of affliction the hair was cut off (Isaiah 3:17, Isaiah 3:24; Isaiah 15:2; Isaiah 22:12; Jeremiah 7:29; Amos 8:10). Tearing the hair and letting it go disheveled were also tokens of grief (Ezra 9:3). "Cutting off the hair" is a figure of the entire destruction of a people (Isaiah 7:20). The Hebrews anointed the hair profusely with fragrant ointments (Ruth 3:3; 2 Samuel 14:2; Psalms 23:5; Psalms 45:7, etc.), especially in seasons of rejoicing (Matthew 6:17; Luke 7:46).