Fuller
/ΛfΚl.Ιr/noun
A person or machine that cleans, thickens, and finishes cloth.
Did you know?The craft of fulling was so important that medieval fullers often worked with stale urine, because its ammonia helped clean and thicken wool before the cloth was rinsed and stretched.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*pel-
βto fill; to be fullβ
Old English
OE
fullere
βa fuller, one who fulls clothβ
Late Old English / Early Middle English
OE/ME
fullian
βto full cloth; to cleanse and thicken by beating and washingβ
Middle English
ME
fullere
βa cloth-finisher or cloth-mill workerβ
Modern English
English
fuller
βa person who fulls cloth or operates a fulling processβ