fi•berˈfaɪ bər(n.)

1. a fine threadlike piece, as of cotton, jute, or asbestos.

   Category: Textiles

2. a slender filament:

   a fiber of platinum.

3. filaments collectively.

4. material composed of filaments:

   a plastic fiber.

5. something resembling a filament.

6. an essential character or strength:

   moral fiber.

7. filamentous matter from the bast tissue or other parts of plants, used for industrial purposes.

   Category: Botany, Textiles

   Ref: root hair.

8. any of the filaments or elongated cells or structures that are combined in a bundle of tissue:

   nerve fiber.

   Category: Biology

9. the structural parts of plants that are wholly or partly indigestible, acting to increase intestinal bulk and peristalsis.

   Category: Nutrition

   Ref: Also called bulk 1 4 , roughage. 3; Also, esp. Brit., fibre.

Origin of fiber:

1350–1400; ME (< MF fibre) < L fibra filament

fi′ber•less(adj.)