/vair/ , n.
1. a fur much used for lining and trimming garments in the 13th and 14th centuries, generally assumed to have been that of a variety of squirrel with a gray back and white belly. Cf. miniver (def. 1).
2. Heraldry. a fur represented by a pattern of escutcheon- or bell-shaped figures, each outlining the adjacent sides of those beside it so that the figures alternate vertically and horizontally both in position and in tinctures, of which argent and azure are common.
[ 1250-1300; ME varium something particolored; see VARIOUS ]