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Mohair entered the English language in the 16th century, spelled variously as "mocayare," "mockaire," "mokayre," and "moochary." It was borrowed from Italian mocaiarro, a word which itself was borrowed from Arabic mukhayyar. The adjective mukhayyar meant "select" or "choice." How this Arabic adjective came to be the English noun "mohair" is a bit of a mystery. It is possible that "mukhayyar" was used as a colloquial noun in the sense of "wool of prime quality" (that is, "choice wool"). In English, the shift from "mocayare" and similar spellings to "mohair" was likely influenced by the more familiar English word hair.
Examples of mohair in a Sentence
Jacorey Moon, Architectural Digest, 18 June 2026
The brand also uses vicuna, alpaca, baby llama, camel, mohair, silk and Makò cotton.
—Andrea Onate, Footwear News, 4 June 2026
The Supersport 400 is a classic British roadster, a two-seater with a mohair manually folding soft top and lightweight carbon-fiber hard top that fits with simple catches.
—New Atlas, 27 Apr. 2026
Drēmər is receiving a performance upgrade similar to the Grand Vividus; there are also mohair headboards available for both product lines.
—Helena Madden, Robb Report, 24 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Mohair.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mohair. Accessed 22 Jun. 2026.
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mohair
noun
