Velvety comes from 'velvet' + '-y'. 'Velvet' comes from Old French 'veluotte', from 'velu' ('shaggy, hairy'), from Vulgar Latin '*villutus', from Latin 'villus' ('shaggy hair, tuft'). In current use it is an adjective meaning "soft and smooth like velvet in texture, sound, or taste". That sense is explained by the older material without requiring a speculative semantic step: the inherited or borrowed base supplies the field of meaning, while the English formation fixes its modern role. The surface form is compositional: its joined elements remain visible in the modern word. A central historical form is Latin villus. Related English forms include velvet and velveteen. The word's history is thus visible in its construction: the components remain interpretable even after the whole expression has settled into a conventional English meaning.