Velvet is a soft, thick fabric with a smooth, fuzzy surface that feels pleasant to touch. As an adjective, velvet describes something that is smooth and gentle, like a velvet voice.
From Old French 'velu' or 'veluet', related to 'velu' meaning 'hairy', from Latin 'villosus'. The word came to describe the rich, pile fabric that feels almost like fur.
Velvet used to be so expensive that it signaled power and royalty just by touch. That’s why ‘velvet gloves’ in the phrase ‘an iron fist in a velvet glove’ suggest softness hiding something very hard underneath. The fabric carries centuries of luxury in one word.
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