“hair” in Latin

A single hair, pilus (general term, on the body of men and animals, whether short or long, bristly or smooth; Vid: Plin., 11, 32, 47, and 39, 94; Hor., Ep., 2, 1, 45, horse-hair, of the tail; Varr., R.R., 2, 11, 11, goat’s hair; opposed to lana; Plin., 8, 48, 73, wool. The sing. also stands collectively for the hair of the whole body, like crinis and capillus; Vid: Plin., 11, 32, 47, and 39, 94): seta (the strong, bristly hair of animals, as horse-hair, hog’s bristle, etc.): crinis (the smooth hair of the human head; Vid: Martisalis, 12, 32, 4, uxor rufa crinibus septem; the sing. also, collectively = crines, i. e., head of hair): villus: villi (only collectively = the thick, woolly or hanging hair of animals. ☞ That villus refers, as just mentioned, rather to the thickness and closeness than to the length of the hair, may be seen from Col., 7, 3, 7, “ovis prolixi villi;” and Plin., 11, 39, 94, “villosissimus animalium lepus”). Fine or thin hair, pilus tenuis: thick hair, pilus crassus: hair grows thick, pili crassescunt: bristly hair, pilus hirtus: a person covered all over with hair, hirtus: thin hair, pili rari: having only a few straggling hairs, raripilus (especially of animals): the hair a child is born with, pili congeniti or simul geniti (e.g., of the head): hair that grows after the birth, pili agnati or post geniti (e.g., of the beard): the hair in the nose, vibrissae (Festi): the hair of the beard, barba: hair from the beard, capilli ex barba detonsi (shorn from the beard; Sen., Ep., 92, 31): the downy hair on the face, especially on the chin, of young people, lanugo; lanugines oris (of several persons): the long hair hanging down on the temples or cheeks, capronae or caproneae; upon the forehead, antiae: the hair of the eyelids, cilia, orum: of the eyebrows, supercilia, orum: the hair under the armpit (as liable to smell offensively), hircus: the hair on the neck of a horse or lion (= mane), juba; comae cervicum (Gell., 5, 14, of those of a lion): to have no hair, pilo carere; calvere (to be bald, e.g., naturally, naturaliter): from which the hair has been plucked (e.g., a part of the body), depilatus: hair is falling off, pili cadunt or defluunt: hair is growing, pili crescunt; is gradually growing again, pili subnascuntur: to cut off the hair, pilos recidere, tondere: to pull anybody’s hair out, alicui pilos evellere: one who has had all his hair pulled out, glaber (Vid: Sen., Ep., 47, 5): thinner or finer than a hair, *pilo tenuior; tenuissimus. PROV. Not to injure a hair of anybody’s head, ne minime quidem laedere aliquem: to be within a hair’s breadth of anything, nihil (or nec quicquam) propius est factum, quam ut etc.: he was within a hair’s breadth of being slain, propius nihil est factum, quam ut occideretur (Cic.). Not to depart a hair’s breadth from anything, ab aliqua re traversum (or transversum) unguem non discedere (Cic.); ab aliqua re (transversum) digirum non abscedere (Cic.): not by a single hair’s breadth, ne pilo quidem uno (e.g., minus se amare, Cic.): to a hair = exactly, Vid: : there is not a hair’s difference between them, nihil omnino or ne minimum quidem interest (e.g., inter eos); nihil differt; plane idem est (it is identical).

Hair (collectively = growth or head of hair), crines (Vid: above, “crinis” for SYN.): capillus (from “capitis” and “hillus;” i. e., a tuft of hair; hence, collectively = head of hair [instead of which sometimes the plur., capilli, is used], especially if opposed to “hair of the beard;” thus often (The words are found in this connection and order.) capillus barbaque, barba capillusque): coma (related to or derived from κόμη, the hair hanging down from the head, especially of women and savages; Vid: Plin., 11, 32, 47, “gentes intonsae,” in that passage: he that wears his hair in that fashion, comatus): caesaries (the bushy hair of men, either short or long, which surrounds the head, without being artificially arranged, and gives to the person an imposing and martial look; hence mostly of the hairof a warrior; Vid: Plaut., Mil Glor., 3, 1, 170; Liv., 28, 35, 6: he that has such a head of hair, caesariatus): villus, villi (shaggy, thick hair; Vid: above). Long hair, capillus longus or promissus; caesaries promissa: to have long hair, esse comatum (κομᾶν): thick strong hair, capillus densus: he who has strong hair, capillosus; bene capillatus: thin hair, capillus rarus: bristly hair, capillus hirtus or horrens: straight hair, capillus rectus or directus: curly hair, capillus crispus: he who has curly hair, cirratus: woolly hair, capillus lanae propior (after Plin., 8, 48, 73): loose or dishevelled hair, capillus passus: crines passi (especially of persons in mourning, or of supplicants): capillus sparsus: crines sparsi (of raging persons, savages, or a diviner in ecstasy): capillus effusus (hair that is undone, hanging down on the shoulders, not done or tied up; opposed to capillus nodo vinctus; Vid: Sen., Ep., 124, 22): the gray hair of old men, cani (canities is poetical): he who has gray hair, canus: to have gray hair, canere; canum esse: to get gray hair, canescere: false hair, capillamentum, ☞ “Wig :” to wear false hair, capillamento uti: to wear one’s own hair, suum capillum or suam comam gestare: I am losing my hair, calvesco: I have lost all my hair, calveo [Vid: BALD]. To let one’s hair grow, capillum alere; long, capillum or caesariem promittere or submittere: to dress the hair, comere capillos or crines (general terms); crines calamistro ornare; capillum crispare; comam calamistrare (to curl it with the irons); frangere comam in gradus (to arrange it in plaits): to dress the hair in ringlets, comere caput in annulos; in plaits and ringlets, comere caput in gradus et annulos: to wear the hair in a knot, capillos in nodum colligere; capillum nodo vincire; crines in nodum cogere or torquere; crinem obliquare nodoque substringere: to be good for the hair (of ointments, oils, etc.), capillum nutrire or alere; capillum natura fertili evocare (to promote the growth of the hair). A dye for the hair, wash for the hair, *fucus crinalis. ☞ The Roman ladies used a sort of soap, spuma caustica (Martisalis, 14, 26), or balls named from the countries where they were made, pila Batava, Mattiaca, etc. (Martisalis, 8, 33; 14, 27): the root of a hair, radix pili: roots of the hair, radices pilorum. To drag ahy by his hair, aliquem capillis trahere: like hair, specie crinium, etc., in speciem crinium (e.g., factus) modo comarum (crinium, etc., Plin., 2, 25, 22): a tuft of hair, cirrus: as fine as a hair, tenuissimus (i. e., very thin). ☞ The Roman modes of dressing the hair were comptus (general term); comae suggestus (Statius, Silv., 1, 2, 114); nodus (if fixed with a pin); corymbium (plaited in a spiral form, and fastened with a pin on one of the temples, κόρυμβος, κρωβύλος); testudo (in the shape of a guitar or shell, Ov., A.A., 3, 147); tutulus (a tie formed of the plaited hair itself, which was crossed over the forehead and fixed together; after Böttiger’s Sabina, 1, p. 131 and 151).