Kemp
/kɛmp/noun
A coarse or rough hair or fiber, especially the dead, hairy fibers mixed with wool.
Did you know?Kemp comes from Old English and Germanic roots tied to coarse hair, and it survives in dialects and textiles as a reminder that even wool has a wild, uncivilized shadow side.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*kamba-
“Coarse hair or bristles”
Old English
OE
cempa
“Champion, warrior”
Middle English
ME
kemp
“Coarse hair or dead wool fiber”
Modern English
English
kemp
“A coarse hair or fiber, especially in wool”