天鵞絨

Etymology 1
The 1734 work 本朝世事綺談 (Honchō Seji Kidan, “Embellished Tales of Everyday Japan”; also listed as 本朝世事談綺, with the last two characters swapped) describes this kanji spelling as arising from how velvet shines and shimmers in a way reminiscent of a swan's plumage: +.

Noun

 * 1)  velvet

Usage notes
The kanji spelling and on'yomi of tengajū are not used much in modern Japanese, and have been superseded by the borrowed term.

Etymology 2
The spelling is from the tengajū reading, ultimately from. The reading is from. The term was borrowed when Portuguese traders and missionaries first introduced velvet to Japan in the 1500s.

Usage notes
The katakana spelling is more common for this term.