lambswool

English

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈlæmzwʊl/

Etymology 1

From lamb +‎ -s- +‎ wool.

Noun

lambswool (countable and uncountable, plural lambswools)

(uncountable) The wool of a lamb.
Hypernym: wool

Coordinate term: sheepswool
(by extension, countable) A textile or garment made of wool from a lamb.
Hypernym: woolen

Coordinate term: sheepswool

Etymology 2

Probably identical to Etymology 1, referring to the layer of froth that is produced in making the drink,^[1] though starting with Charles Vallancey in 1786, historically supposed to be a corruption of an earlier lamasool or La Maes Abhal "Day of the Apple Fruit" (corresponding to Irish lá measa abhla).^[2]

Noun

lambswool

A festive drink of ale mixed with the pulp of roasted apples.
- 1595, George Peele, The Old Wives’ Tale, The Malone Society Reprints, 1908, lines 82-85,^[1]
  Well Masters if you will eate nothing take away: Come, what doo we to passe away the time? Lay a crab in the fire to rost for Lambes-wooll […]

References

^ Sullivan, Ceri (6 September 2024), “Shakespeare’s Will, Lambswool, and Puck’s Joke”, in Notes and Queries, volume 71, number 4, Oxford University Press, →DOI, page 406: “These sources do not, however, state why the drink is called lambswool. The name comes from the way the apples are roasted until they split open, and their pulp froths over the skin; this is used to float on top of the bowl of drink.”
^ Vallancey, Charles, editor (1786), “Of Allhallow Eve, Named by the Irish Oidhche Shamhna”, in Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, volume III, Dublin: Luke White, pages 444-445:
The firſt day of November was dedicated to the angel preſiding over fruits, ſeeds, &c. and was therefore named la mas ubhal, that is, the day of the apple fruit, and being pronounced lamasool, the English have corrupted the name to lambswool, a name they give to a compoſition made on this eve of roaſted apples, ſugar, and ale.

French

Noun

lambswool m (plural lambswools)

lambswool (wool)

[1] Sullivan, Ceri (6 September 2024), “Shakespeare’s Will, Lambswool, and Puck’s Joke”, in Notes and Queries, volume 71, number 4, Oxford University Press, →DOI, page 406: “These sources do not, however, state why the drink is called lambswool. The name comes from the way the apples are roasted until they split open, and their pulp froths over the skin; this is used to float on top of the bowl of drink.”

[2] Vallancey, Charles, editor (1786), “Of Allhallow Eve, Named by the Irish Oidhche Shamhna”, in Collectanea de Rebus Hibernicis, volume III, Dublin: Luke White, pages 444-445:
The firſt day of November was dedicated to the angel preſiding over fruits, ſeeds, &c. and was therefore named la mas ubhal, that is, the day of the apple fruit, and being pronounced lamasool, the English have corrupted the name to lambswool, a name they give to a compoſition made on this eve of roaſted apples, ſugar, and ale.

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