tomentoseadj.
/təˈmɛntəʊs/, /ˈtəʊm(ə)ntəʊs/, U.S. /toʊˈmɛnˌtoʊs/, /ˈtoʊmənˌtoʊs/ 1. Chiefly Botany and Entomology. Closely covered with down or short fine hairs; pubescent, downy. Also as second element in compounds.
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the world > plants > part of plant > hair or bristle > [adjective] > having hair
beardedc1450
downy1551
cottoned1578
friezed1578
maned1578
woolly1578
hairy1597
bristle-pointed1601
comous1657
fimbrious1657
tomentous1657
shagged1671
tomentose1698
crinated1724
villose1727
hispid1753
pubescent1760
setose1760
villous1766
lashed1776
silky1776
strigous1776
sericeous1777
awny1786
awned1787
strigose1793
shaggy1796
stupose1799
thready1804
feather-headed1821
setous1822
aristate1829
filamentous1835
fimbriate1836
puberulent1841
puberulous1841
sericated1848
barbate1853
strigillose1857
fimbrilliferous1866
ciliolate1870
fimbrillose1884
strigulated1899
the world > life > the body > hair > types of hair > [adjective] > down
mosya1475
mossy1567
callow down1598
tomentous1657
tomentose1698
pluffy1809
fluffy1848
pilar1860
the world > life > biology > physical aspects or shapes > villosity or ciliation > [adjective] > hairiness > woolly or downy
downy1551
tomentous1657
tomentose1698
lanate1760
velutinous1826
fluffy1848
lanose1852
flocculent1870
1698 J. Fryer New Acct. E.-India & Persia 40 (Plate) Nutts..whose tomentose husk taken off, leaves the Areca nut.
1785 T. Martyn tr. J.-J. Rousseau Lett. Elements Bot. xxix. 456 The surface..is villous above and tomentose or nappy underneath.
1818 W. P. C. Barton Compend. Floræ Philadelphicæ I. 233 Leaves ternate, oval, acuminate, sublobate, duplicate-serrate, white-tomentose underneath.
1826 W. Kirby & W. Spence Introd. Entomol. IV. xlvi. 276 Tomentose... Covered with short interwoven inconspicuous hairs.
1852 J. D. Dana U.S. Exploring Exped.: Crustacea Pt. I 240 The pubescence or tomentose covering is exceedingly short.
1887 W. Phillips Man. Brit. Discomycetes 269 Externally farinose-tomentose, pale red or dilute-cinnamon.
1934 Jrnl. Kansas Entomol. Soc. 7 69 A large yellow, mostly yellow tomentose species; front border of wings brownish.
1950 Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 43 5 In both genera the scutellum ranges from wholly tomentose to apically polished.
2012 D. Pigott Lime-trees & Basswoods viii. 111/1 The white tomentose surface of the young stems is also characteristic of the European species.
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the world > space > relative position > arrangement or fact of being arranged > state of being gathered together > [adjective] > collecting into one mass or body > agglomerated or conglomerated > into flocculent masses
flocked1659
tomentosea1715
flocculent1800
a1715 R. Waller in W. Derham Philos. Exper. R. Hooke & Other Virtuoso's (1726) 364 When that [membranous coat] is taken off, there remains only the simple, tomentose, Substance of the Brain.
1837 R. Owen in Hunter's Observ. Animal Œcon. (new ed.) 386 The outermost [lamina of the choroid]..is composed of larger vessels, connected by cellular membrane, which gives it a tomentose appearance.
1859 Todd's Cycl. Anat. & Physiol. V. 636/1 A tomentose or..villous condition of the surface.
1867 J. King Causes Chronic Dis. 1339 The Iris... Its anterior surface, which seems formed of radiating fibres, is tomentose and velvety.
1872 E. R. Peaslee Ovarian Tumors 35 If the latter be purulent, it becomes fungous, tomentose, reddish.
3. In extended use: covered in hair, hairy.
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1970 Stanford (Calif.) Daily 6 May 2/3 This non-logic abroad is matched at home by another kind of non-logic which scores points by phrases like Agnew's latest—‘tomentose exhibitionists’.
2005 J. A. Glusman Conduct Under Fire xvi. 270 The Japanese found their strong body odor and tomentose torsos as repugnant as their mixed racial heritage.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, January 2018; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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adj.1698