Origins
The word "angora" traces a winding path from the ancient heart of Anatolia to the modern worlds of fashion and textile manufacturing, carrying with it the history of a city, a breed of animals, and a fiber prized for its extraordinary softness. Its source is Ankara, the capital of modern Turkey, known historically in European languages as Angora — a name that persisted in English well into the twentieth century.
The city's name has deep roots. The ancient settlement was known to the Phrygians, Galatians, and Romans, who called it Ancyra (Ἄγκυρα in Greek), a word meaning "anchor." According to tradition, this name commemorated an anchor found by the Galatian king Midas — though the story is likely an etiological myth invented to explain a pre-existing name. The Greek form Ancyra evolved through Turkish phonological processes into "Ankara," while the European form "Angora" represents a separate line of transmission, likely through medieval Italian and French intermediaries who adapted the name to their own phonological patterns.
The association between the city and its distinctive fiber begins with the Angora goat, a breed native to the region around Ankara that produces mohair — a lustrous, durable fiber that has been prized since antiquity. The Angora goat was first mentioned in European sources in the sixteenth century, when travelers to the Ottoman Empire described the remarkable animals of the Ankara region. The breed's long, silky fleece was unlike anything produced by European goats, and Angora mohair quickly became a luxury commodity.
Development
The terminological situation is complicated by the existence of not one but three "Angora" animals. The Angora goat produces mohair. The Angora rabbit, a separate species bred for its extremely soft fur, produces what is commonly called "angora wool" or simply "angora." And the Angora cat, one of the oldest recognized cat breeds, is a longhaired variety also originating from the Ankara region. All three animals share the characteristic of exceptionally long, fine hair, suggesting that the Ankara region's climate and terrain favored the development of this trait across multiple species — or, more likely, that human breeders in the region selected for it.
In modern textile terminology, "angora" without further qualification typically refers to the fiber of the Angora rabbit. This fiber is renowned for its softness, warmth, and characteristic "halo" — the fuzzy nimbus of floating fibers that gives angora garments their distinctive appearance. Angora rabbit fiber is hollow, giving it exceptional thermal properties; it is estimated to be two and a half times warmer than sheep's wool by weight. However, it is also fragile, prone to shedding, and difficult to process, which contributes to its high cost.
The word entered English in the early seventeenth century, initially referring to the goat and its fiber. By the eighteenth century, it was being applied to the cat breed, and by the nineteenth century to the rabbit as well. The adjective "angora" came to function as a general descriptor for anything made from or resembling these fine, soft fibers.
Legacy
The 1930 decision by the Turkish government to officially rename the city from "Angora" to "Ankara" in international usage created an interesting linguistic divergence. The city became Ankara; the fibers, animals, and textile products remained Angora. This split is now so complete that many English speakers do not realize the words refer to the same place. The fiber term "angora" has effectively detached from its geographical origin, joining words like "denim" (from Nîmes), "muslin" (from Mosul), and "cashmere" (from Kashmir) in the rich lexicon of textiles named for places.