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

“T’ree vair’ good dogs,” François told Perrault.

From Literature

Lastly, with much difficulty in narrowing down my choices for a spa treatment, I decided on a two-hour Vair Story about love called Amaur.

From Salon

The next day, waiting for me at the Vair Spa was a woman in bare feet, with a flowy dress and long brown hair, who led me on a tour of the dark, cavernous hallways of this magical den.

From Salon

But he wanted to learn how candy was made, so he apprenticed under Howard Vair, owner of Vair-E-Best, a candy factory in Highland Park.

From Seattle Times

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