behaard

Behaard is a Dutch adjective meaning covered with hair or hairy. It describes skin, fur, feathers, leaves, or other surfaces that have a noticeable growth of hair, bristles, or trichomes. The term is used in everyday language as well as in scientific and technical contexts, including biology, zoology, and botany. Examples include een behaarde huid (hairy skin), een behaard dier (hairy animal), or een behaard blad (hairy leaf).

Behaard can be used predicatively (Het dier is behaard) or attributively (een behaard dier). The corresponding noun form is beharing, referring to the state or quality of being hair-covered or to the presence of hairs in a given area.

In contrast to harig, which often emphasizes the presence of fur or hair and can imply color or texture, behaard tends to highlight the extent and distribution of hair across a surface. In scientific language, behaard is commonly applied to surfaces with fine hairs, such as plant trichomes on leaves or stems, and to analogous structures on animals.

Etymology traces behaard to haar (hair) with the suffix -d, and it has cognates in other Germanic languages (for example German behaart). In English, the closest general equivalent is hairy, though usage and nuance can differ by context.

See also: beharing, harig, trichomes.