fibre

American  

[fahy-ber] / ˈfaɪ bər /

noun

Chiefly British.

1. a variant of fiber.

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fibre British  

/ ˈfaɪbə /

noun

1. a natural or synthetic filament that may be spun into yarn, such as cotton or nylon

2. cloth or other material made from such yarn

3. a long fine continuous thread or filament

4. the structure of any material or substance made of or as if of fibres; texture

5. essential substance or nature

   all the fibres of his being were stirred

6. strength of character (esp in the phrase moral fibre )

7. See dietary fibre

8. botany

   1. a narrow elongated thick-walled cell: a constituent of sclerenchyma tissue

   2. such tissue extracted from flax, hemp, etc, used to make linen, rope, etc

   3. a very small root or twig

9. anatomy any thread-shaped structure, such as a nerve fibre

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Other Word Forms

• fibred adjective
• fibreless adjective

Etymology

Origin of fibre

C14: from Latin fibra filament, entrails

Example Sentences

WTO chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala explained: "Currently, 98 percent of the region's cotton is exported as raw fibre; the goal is to change that."

From Barron's • Mar. 26, 2026

These benefits are often attributed to higher fibre intake and reduced saturated fat consumption.

From Science Daily • Feb. 26, 2026

Industry groups have complained that the new fire safety regulations have led to lengthy delays to carry out minor work to install fibre cables.

From BBC • Jan. 28, 2026

Brussels proposes to give member states until 2035 to move off copper telecommunications networks and switch to faster fibre networks.

From Barron's • Jan. 21, 2026

I can weave and spin, or plait matting, but there is no money for spindle, cotton or fibre.

From "Nectar in a Sieve" by Kamala Markandaya