From PIE *keres- (bristly) — the same root gave Latin 'horrēre' (to bristle with fear), making 'hair' and 'horror' kin.
Any of the fine threadlike strands growing from the skin of humans and animals.
From Old English 'hǣr' (hair), from Proto-Germanic *hērą (hair), from PIE *keres- (bristly, rough, to stand on end). The word originally referred to the collective mass of hair on the head, not individual strands — Old English used 'locc' for a single strand or tress. The PIE root connects hair to the idea of roughness or bristling, linking it to Latin 'horrēre' (to bristle, to stand on end, to shudder with fear) and its English descendants 'horror,' 'horrid,' 'horrible,' and 'abhor' — all carrying