vibrissa (n.)

plural vibrissae, 1690s, "nose hair, stiff hair in the nostril," from Latin vibrissa, back-formation from vibrissare, from vibrare "to vibrate" (from PIE root *weip- "to turn, vacillate, tremble ecstatically"). In reference to the long whiskers of a cat, etc., from 1839.

updated on January 25, 2018