the.com/chenille
French for caterpillar, because that fuzzy yarn really does look like a worm in a sweater
means A soft, fuzzy fabric or yarn with a velvety pile, used for bedspreads, robes, sweaters, and upholstery.
from Straight from French chenille, meaning 'caterpillar' — itself worn down from Latin canicula, 'little dog' (the diminutive of canis), which the Romans apparently thought a hairy caterpillar resembled. So the thread of names runs dog → caterpillar → fuzzy yarn, each stage hairier than the last.
- name origin
- chenille is literally French for caterpillar
- how it's made
- short yarns trapped between twisted core threads
- bedspread fame
- defined cozy mid-century American bedrooms
- sheds badly
- those fuzzy piles love to migrate everywhere
- highway origin
- early tufted spreads sold roadside in Georgia
for instance
chenille yarn — fuzzy yarn made from short fibers twisted around a core thread, used in textiles since the 1800s
chenille caterpillar — larva of brush-footed butterflies with hair-like setae covering its body