lanugo

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lānūgō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ləˈnjuːɡəʊ/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Noun

lanugo (countable and uncountable, plural lanugos)

1. Soft down or fine hair, specifically that covering the human foetus or a tumorous area.
   • 1874, Charles Darwin, “Chaper XX”, in The Descent of Man:

     From the presence of the woolly hair or lanugo on the human fœtus, and of rudimentary hairs scattered over the body during maturity, we may infer that man is descended from some animal which was born hairy and remained so during life.

   • 1955, Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita:

     […] early spring mountains with young-elephant lanugo along their spines […]

Translations

soft down or fine hair

Catalan: lanugen m Chinese: Mandarin: 胎毛 (zh) (tāimáo), 胎髮 / 胎发 (zh) (tāifà), 奶毛 (zh) (nǎimáo) Finnish: untuvakarva, lanugo (fi) French: lanugo (fr) m German: Lanugo f Indonesian: lanugo (id) Italian: lanugo (it) m, lanugine (it) f Polish: lanugo n Spanish: lanugo (es) m Welsh: goflew m pl

Further reading

• lanugo on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• lanugo (Q1540378)

Anagrams

• Angulo, Lugano

Esperanto

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lānūgō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laˈnuɡo/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uɡo
• Hyphenation: la‧nu‧go

Noun

lanugo (uncountable, accusative lanugon)

1. down
2. fluff

Finnish

Etymology

Internationalism (see English lanugo).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈlɑnuɡo/, [ˈlɑ̝nuɡo̞]
• Rhymes: -ɑnuɡo
• Syllabification^(key): la‧nu‧go
• Hyphenation^(key): la‧nu‧go

Noun

lanugo

1. (anatomy) lanugo

Declension

Inflection of lanugo (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)
nominative		lanugo	lanugot
genitive		lanugon	lanugojen
partitive		lanugoa	lanugoja
illative		lanugoon	lanugoihin
		singular	plural
nominative		lanugo	lanugot
accusative	nom.	lanugo	lanugot
	gen.	lanugon
genitive		lanugon	lanugojen
partitive		lanugoa	lanugoja
inessive		lanugossa	lanugoissa
elative		lanugosta	lanugoista
illative		lanugoon	lanugoihin
adessive		lanugolla	lanugoilla
ablative		lanugolta	lanugoilta
allative		lanugolle	lanugoille
essive		lanugona	lanugoina
translative		lanugoksi	lanugoiksi
abessive		lanugotta	lanugoitta
instructive		—	lanugoin
comitative		See the possessive forms below.

Possessive forms of lanugo (Kotus type 1/valo, no gradation)

first-person singular possessor singular plural nominative lanugoni lanugoni accusative nom. lanugoni lanugoni gen. lanugoni genitive lanugoni lanugojeni partitive lanugoani lanugojani inessive lanugossani lanugoissani elative lanugostani lanugoistani illative lanugooni lanugoihini adessive lanugollani lanugoillani ablative lanugoltani lanugoiltani allative lanugolleni lanugoilleni essive lanugonani lanugoinani translative lanugokseni lanugoikseni abessive lanugottani lanugoittani instructive — — comitative — lanugoineni second-person singular possessor singular plural nominative lanugosi lanugosi accusative nom. lanugosi lanugosi gen. lanugosi genitive lanugosi lanugojesi partitive lanugoasi lanugojasi inessive lanugossasi lanugoissasi elative lanugostasi lanugoistasi illative lanugoosi lanugoihisi adessive lanugollasi lanugoillasi ablative lanugoltasi lanugoiltasi allative lanugollesi lanugoillesi essive lanugonasi lanugoinasi translative lanugoksesi lanugoiksesi abessive lanugottasi lanugoittasi instructive — — comitative — lanugoinesi first-person plural possessor singular plural nominative lanugomme lanugomme accusative nom. lanugomme lanugomme gen. lanugomme genitive lanugomme lanugojemme partitive lanugoamme lanugojamme inessive lanugossamme lanugoissamme elative lanugostamme lanugoistamme illative lanugoomme lanugoihimme adessive lanugollamme lanugoillamme ablative lanugoltamme lanugoiltamme allative lanugollemme lanugoillemme essive lanugonamme lanugoinamme translative lanugoksemme lanugoiksemme abessive lanugottamme lanugoittamme instructive — — comitative — lanugoinemme second-person plural possessor singular plural nominative lanugonne lanugonne accusative nom. lanugonne lanugonne gen. lanugonne genitive lanugonne lanugojenne partitive lanugoanne lanugojanne inessive lanugossanne lanugoissanne elative lanugostanne lanugoistanne illative lanugoonne lanugoihinne adessive lanugollanne lanugoillanne ablative lanugoltanne lanugoiltanne allative lanugollenne lanugoillenne essive lanugonanne lanugoinanne translative lanugoksenne lanugoiksenne abessive lanugottanne lanugoittanne instructive — — comitative — lanugoinenne third-person possessor singular plural nominative lanugonsa lanugonsa accusative nom. lanugonsa lanugonsa gen. lanugonsa genitive lanugonsa lanugojensa partitive lanugoaan lanugoansa lanugojaan lanugojansa inessive lanugossaan lanugossansa lanugoissaan lanugoissansa elative lanugostaan lanugostansa lanugoistaan lanugoistansa illative lanugoonsa lanugoihinsa adessive lanugollaan lanugollansa lanugoillaan lanugoillansa ablative lanugoltaan lanugoltansa lanugoiltaan lanugoiltansa allative lanugolleen lanugollensa lanugoilleen lanugoillensa essive lanugonaan lanugonansa lanugoinaan lanugoinansa translative lanugokseen lanugoksensa lanugoikseen lanugoiksensa abessive lanugottaan lanugottansa lanugoittaan lanugoittansa instructive — — comitative — lanugoineen lanugoinensa

Synonyms

• utukarvoitus

Italian

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin lānūgō, derived from lāna (“wool”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laˈnu.ɡo/
• Rhymes: -uɡo
• Hyphenation: la‧nù‧go

Noun

lanugo f (uncountable)

1. (biology) lanugo

   Synonym: lanugine

Further reading

• lanugo in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana

Anagrams

• Lugano, a lungo, languo, nugola

Latin

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₂welh₁-

Proto-Indo-European *-nós

Proto-Indo-European *h₂wĺ̥h₁neh₂der.

Latin lāna

Latin -ūgō

Latin lanugo

From lāna (“wool”) +‎ -ūgō (“layer of”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [ɫaːˈnuː.ɡoː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [laˈnuː.ɡo]

Noun

lānūgō f (genitive lānūginis); third declension

1. (in the poetry of every age and in post-Augustan prose) woolly substance, the down of plants, of youthful cheeks, etc.
2. (transferred sense) sawdust

   Synonym: scobis

Declension

Third-declension noun.

	singular	plural
nominative	lānūgō	lānūginēs
genitive	lānūginis	lānūginum
dative	lānūginī	lānūginibus
accusative	lānūginem	lānūginēs
ablative	lānūgine	lānūginibus
vocative	lānūgō	lānūginēs

Derived terms

• lānūgināns
• lānūgineus
• lānūginō
• lānūginōsus

Descendants

• → English: lanugo (learned)
• → Esperanto: lanugo (learned)
• Galician: lanuxe
• → Italian: lanugine (learned)
• → Polish: lanugo (learned)
• → Spanish: lanugo (learned)

References

• “lānūgo”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “lānūgo”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 886/2.
• “lānūgō” on page 1,000/3 of the Oxford Latin Dictionary (1st ed., 1968–82)

Polish

Polish Wikipedia has an article on:

lanugo

Wikipedia ^pl

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin lānūgō. Doublet of flanela and wełna.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laˈnu.ɡɔ/
• Rhymes: -uɡɔ
• Syllabification: la‧nu‧go

Noun

lanugo n

1. lanugo (soft down or fine hair, specifically that covering the human foetus or a tumorous area)

Declension

Declension of lanugo

	singular
nominative	lanugo
genitive	lanuga
dative	lanugu
accusative	lanugo
instrumental	lanugiem
locative	lanugu
vocative	lanugo

Further reading

• lanugo in Polish dictionaries at PWN

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from French or Latin lanugo.

Noun

lanugo n (uncountable)

1. lanugo

Declension

singular only	indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	lanugo	lanugoul
genitive-dative	lanugo	lanugoului
vocative	lanugoule

Spanish

Spanish Wikipedia has an article on:

lanugo

Wikipedia ^es

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin lānūgō.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /laˈnuɡo/ [laˈnu.ɣ̞o]
• Rhymes: -uɡo
• Syllabification: la‧nu‧go

Noun

lanugo m (uncountable)

1. (anatomy) lanugo (soft, thin hair like that of a newborn)

Further reading

• “lanugo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8.1, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 15 December 2025