lanugo means soft down or fine hair, specifically that covering the human foetus or a tumorous area.
lanugo is pronounced /ləˈnjuːɡəʊ/.
Why “lanugo” is a great word
A fine, unpigmented coat of downy hair covering the body of a fetus or newborn. From the Latin lanugo (“wooliness, down”), from lana (“wool”). Unlike “vellus” (the short, fine hair that replaces it) or “terminal hair” (the thick, mature growth of scalp or beard), lanugo is the primal, evanescent fleece of our origin. It is the silvery fur of a peach, the first frost on autumn grass, the ghost of wool on a newborn lamb—the body’s forgotten, universal pelt, shed before memory begins.
noun
- Soft down or fine hair, specifically that covering the human foetus or a tumorous area.
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