vair

American  

[vair] / vɛər /

noun

1. 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.

2. 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.

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vair British  

/ vɛə /

noun

1. a fur, probably Russian squirrel, used to trim robes in the Middle Ages

2. one of the two principal furs used on heraldic shields, conventionally represented by white and blue skins in alternate lines Compare ermine

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Etymology

Origin of vair

1250–1300; Middle English < Old French < Latin varium something particolored; various

Example Sentences

Folklorists have argued for decades over whether Cinderella’s pantoufles de verre might have come about as a mishearing, on Charles Perrault’s part, of pantoufles de vair.

From The New Yorker • Aug. 1, 2016

Je suis not très bonne at being covert as it is vair impersonal.

From The Guardian • Aug. 26, 2012

Even Lady Tan da and her daughters looked pretty in matching gowns of turquoise silk and vair, and Lord Gyles was coughing into a square of scarlet silk trimmed with golden lace.

From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin

When I look over, there’s Elizabeth and Mae Mobley and Raleigh all crammed in the front seat of their white Cor- vair, headed home from supper somewhere, I guess.

From "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett

His cloak was cloth-of-silver too, lined with vair and clasped at the collar with a brooch in the shape of the twin towers.

From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin