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ulotrichous
Oct. 18th, 2024 07:40 amulotrichous (yoo-LO-tri-kuhs) - adj., having wooly or crisp hair.
Contrast with leiotrichous, having smooth hair. Crisp in terms of hair means having small curls, waves, or ripples, if (like me) you didn't know that. Honestly, I'm not likely to use this, but am running it as part of the Department of There Really Is a Word for That. Coined around 1860 from New Latin Ulotrichi, formerly used as the name for the division of humans with having crisp or woolly hair (and I'm betting there's something racist going on with that), from Ancient Greek oulótrichos, curly-haired, from oûlos, crisp/curly + -trikhos, haired (from thríx, hair). (That's the first Greek root I've noticed that changes a thr- to tr- its combining stem.)
ETA: And in the comments, we get the in-between -- cymotrichous, having wavy hair.
---L.
Contrast with leiotrichous, having smooth hair. Crisp in terms of hair means having small curls, waves, or ripples, if (like me) you didn't know that. Honestly, I'm not likely to use this, but am running it as part of the Department of There Really Is a Word for That. Coined around 1860 from New Latin Ulotrichi, formerly used as the name for the division of humans with having crisp or woolly hair (and I'm betting there's something racist going on with that), from Ancient Greek oulótrichos, curly-haired, from oûlos, crisp/curly + -trikhos, haired (from thríx, hair). (That's the first Greek root I've noticed that changes a thr- to tr- its combining stem.)
ETA: And in the comments, we get the in-between -- cymotrichous, having wavy hair.
---L.
