vair

American  

[vair] / vɛər /

noun

vairs plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• vairs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of vair

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

vair vairs

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

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

The younger Baratheon was splendid in his green velvet doublet and satin cloak trimmed in vair.

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

Lady Dustin wore black, as ever, though her sleeves were lined with vair.

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

There are also vairs in abundance; and vast multitudes of the Pharaoh's rat, on which the people live all the summer time.

From The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 2 by Yule, Henry

This Lady Ivorine, the Old Man's daughter, is described among other points as having— "Les iex vairs com faucons, nobles et agentis."

From The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Yule, Henry

The vairs, mainly by misunderstanding of the various patterns found in old paintings, have been amplified with “countervair,” “potent,” “counter-potent” and “vair-en-point,” no one of which merits description.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 13, Slice 3 "Helmont, Jean" to "Hernosand" by Various

In the Chanson de Roland and all the French mediæval poems the eyes are invariably vairs.

From Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 4 Sexual Selection In Man by Ellis, Havelock