hirsute comes from Latin hirsutus ('rough, shaggy, bristly'), related to hirtus ('shaggy') and horrere ('to bristle, stand on end'). The path is chiefly one of transmission: the word passes through the named languages and forms, with each stage preserving part of the modern shape. In present English, the adjective sense is "covered with coarse hair; shaggy", so the historical development ends in a clearly identifiable modern dictionary use. The same base also remains productive in derivatives such as hirsuteness and hirsutism. Its semantic neighborhood includes hairy, shaggy, bristly, and furry, which helps locate the modern sense without adding a separate etymological claim. The named historical forms include Latin hirsutus.