Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A fur, probably squirrel, much used in medieval times to line and trim robes.
- n. Heraldry A representation of fur.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A kind of fur in use in the middle ages. It is generally assumed to have been the skin of a small animal, such as the gray squirrel, of which the back is gray and the belly white. Compare
miniver . - n. In heraldry, one of the furs. See tincture, 2. It is represented as in the illustration, except that the number of rows is not positively fixed. Compare
vairé .
Wiktionary
- n. archaic A type of fur from a squirrel with a black back and white belly, much used on garments in the Middle Ages.
- n. heraldry An heraldic fur formed by a regular tessellation of blue and white bell shapes.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The skin of the squirrel, much used in the fourteenth century as fur for garments, and frequently mentioned by writers of that period in describing the costly dresses of kings, nobles, and prelates. It is represented in heraldry by a series of small shields placed close together, and alternately white and blue.
Etymologies
- From Old French vair, veir, from the accusative singular masculine form of Latin varius ("variegated"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old French, variegated, vair, from Latin varius, variegated. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“But me luvz teh rain vair much so I don't mind if it doesn't!”
“It is a land of mountains and forests, where there are to be found the animals called vair [215], ermine, and sable.”
“In these laws sable is called vair, and it has been asserted that Perrault marked the dignity conferred upon Cinderella by the fairy's gift of a slipper of vair, a privilege confined to the highest rank of princesses.”
Literary Blunders; A chapter in the "History of Human Error"
“Cinderella's famous slipper was made of "vair," which, through a misapprehension in being translated”
“She was idly wondering what a "vair" might be when her dreams were crashed into by mother's reproving voice: "Missy, what are you doing?”
“If I was smart like Joe I would be restoring vintage caddy, not vintage vair.”
“I can't say it's the best crossover recording "ever made," but I do love Die Singphoniker's "Serenade" (they sing a bunch of Beatles songs as well as "Zair vair bells on zhu hill" from "The Music Man") 3.”
“Nor does it seem to be a case of mishearing, with Perrault writing verre for vair when transcribing an oral account, since vair, a medieval word, was no longer used in his time.”
Were Cinderella’s glass slippers a mistranslation? « Musings from an overworked translator
“Vair, variegated fur, from the Latin varius, varied, also is a root of miniver, originally menu vair, small vair, which referred initially to the fur — perhaps squirrel — used as trim on medieval robes and later was applied to the prized ermine, or winter weasel fur, on the ceremonial robes of peers.”
Were Cinderella’s glass slippers a mistranslation? « Musings from an overworked translator
“Sinjáb is Persian for the skin of the grey squirrel (Mu. lemmus, the lemming), the meniver, erroneously miniver, (menu vair) as opposed to the ermine = (Mus Armenius, or mustela erminia.)”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘vair’.
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WWF WTF?
Ever play "Words With Friends" with someone and they throw down some strange, unlikely group of letters that makes even the most mild and squeaky clean tongued person say "whiskey tango foxtrot"? ...
oorie, sangar, merl, cwm, doum, weir, jura, invar, lawine, tapa, waw, shog and 376 more...
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phrontistery-v
from phrontistery.info
vaccary, vaccimulgence, vaccine, vacillate, vadelect, vade-mecum, vadimony, vadose, vafrous, vagient, vagile, vagility and 396 more...
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Heraldica
any and all things heraldry related.
tressure, trefoil, estoile, ermine, fesse, gules, azure, bend, bendlet, escutcheon, passant guardant, or and 58 more...
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Squirrels! Squirrels! Squirrels!
All squirrels, all the time.
(For a more specific list about the squirrels in my neighborhood, see here.)squirrel, squirrels, pink squirrel, Squirrel Nut Zippers, ground squirrel, Sciuridae, parka squirrel, Rocket J. Squirrel, Rocky the Flying ..., moiré squirrel, suslik, mantled ground sq... and 66 more...
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List of Heraldry Terms
Words and phrases used in blazoning heraldic devices, along with names and other terms associated with the art and science.
Other similar lists can be found on Wordnik, especially that...seiant, duciper, bourdon, pouch, scrip, staff, ananas, besant d'argent, roundle, roundel, argent, allocamelus and 743 more...
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My Treasures
Well everyone's lists are favourites or pets or useful terms, no? These are mine.
mephitic, cagastric, wulm, scaevity, seplasiary, sevidical, sevous, soleated, soloecal, sputcheon, stagma, temerate and 173 more...
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Heraldry
azure, gules, sable, vert, purpure, or, argent, ermine, vair, charge, ordinary, cross and 118 more...
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sionnach's Words
contumely, fomite, holmgang, poltroon, eleemosynary, obsidian, nugatory, grindcore, felch, recrudescent, pyx, parenteral and 3271 more...
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fbharjo's Words
jumelle, kef, kenspeckle, lautitious, essentic, pilpulistic, impavid, cicurant, clou, chrysostomic, miasma, teleology and 1625 more...
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.pages
tamerlane, rickett, bastan, barnum, byssus, carys, lyris, vidler, morphos, leafwing, phaon, scudder and 238 more...
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Medieval heraldry...
or what I can remember of it.
gules, argent, or, azure, vert, fess, bend, sinister, chief, chevron, ermine, fleur-de-lys and 68 more...
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some words I like
lorem ipsum, amble, conjunctiva, ribaldry, pedestrian, floret, frith, philately, mercy, transpierced, wrist, codicil and 40 more...
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annoying little words used against me...
yirr, defi, recce, bindi, ose, ani, eng, sloid, orle, voe, aine, ansa and 23 more...
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freerice words ...
... that I didn't know and also was pleased to learn.
osier, mastaba, menhir, friable, coriaceous, gnathic, horologe, rugose, fusil, clathrate, mithridate, vitrine and 7 more...
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Olden
wanse, heeld, Waugh, styll, breme, swarf, laund, ver, Hurst, Fae, thern, flet and 30 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for vair.
sionnach A fur much used for lining and trimming garments in the 13th and 14th centuries, generally assumed to have been that of a variety of squirrel with a gray back and white belly.
Heraldry: a fur represented by a pattern of escutcheon- or bell-shaped figures, each outlining the adjacent sides of those beside it so that the figures alternate vertically and horizontally both in position and in tinctures, of which argent and azure are common.
The belief that Cinderella wore glass slippers actually arises from a confusion of vair (squirrel-fur) with its homonym verre (glass). In all probability, she went to the ball wearing fashionable furry footwear. Nov 12, 2007