skin
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skin
- /skɪn/
Rhymes with -ɪn
Where it comes from
From Middle English skyn, skinn, from Old English scinn, from Old Norse skinn (“animal hide”), from Proto-Germanic *skinþą, from Proto-Indo-European *sken- (“to split off”), nasal variant of *skeh₁i-d- (“to cut”). Partially displaced native Old English hȳd (“skin, hide”), from which derives hide.
Cognate with Dutch schinde (“bark”), dialectal German Schinde (“fruit peel”); also Breton skant (“scales”), Old Irish cenn (“covering, shell”), Irish scáin (“to tear, burst”), Latin scindō (“to split, divide”), Sanskrit छिनत्ति (chinátti, “to split”).
noun skins · skinne
- The outer protective layer of the body of any animal, including of a human. He is so disgusting he makes my skin crawl.
- The outer protective layer of the fruit of a plant.
- The skin and fur of an individual animal used by humans for clothing, upholstery, etc. you know good leather, you know the best way to tan the hides and where to find the best skins
-
A congealed layer on the surface of a liquid.
In order to get to the rest of the paint in the can, you′ll have to remove the skin floating on top of it.
Similar: film
- A set of resources that modifies the appearance and/or layout of the graphical user interface of a computer program. You can use this skin to change how the browser looks.
- An alternate appearance (texture map or geometry) for a character model in a video game. My friend likes to use a Spider-Man skin in Fortnite.
- Rolling paper for cigarettes. Pass me a skin, mate.
- Clipping of skinhead By the end of the show, fights would break out all over the place: the Atlantic City skins against the crew from Philly; the oldschool skinheads feuding with overzealous fresh-cuts.
-
A subgroup of Australian aboriginal people.
The younger brother questions the correctness of the pursuit of the girls. "They may be of the wrong subsection," he suggests. "We can take wrong skins," says the older brother, but the younger still holds back.
Similar: moiety
- Bare flesh, particularly bare breasts. Let me see a bit of skin.
- Clipping of drumskin
- A vessel made of skin, used for holding liquids. the Bacchic train, Who brought their skins of wine, and loaded poles That bent with mighty clusters of black grapes
- That part of a sail, when furled, which remains on the outside and covers the whole. The skin of the sail is made of stretch-resistant Mylar
- The covering, as of planking or iron plates, outside the framing, forming the sides and bottom of a vessel; the shell; also, a lining inside the framing.
- The outer surface covering much of the wings and fuselage of an aircraft.
- A drink of whisky served hot.
- A person; chap. He was a decent old skin.
- A purse. […] and away I scampered with the tiddlywink-table, while Teddy Limber […] frisked the yokel of his yack and skin.
- A member of the team not wearing shirts, in a shirts and skins game.
verb skins · skinning · skinned · skint
- To injure the skin of. He fell off his bike and skinned his knee on the concrete.
- To remove the skin and/or fur of an animal or a human.
- To high five.
- To apply a skin to (a computer program). Can I skin the application to put the picture of my cat on it?
- To use tricks to go past a defender. The Russian, sometimes out of sorts in recent weeks, was seeing plenty of the ball on the left-hand side up against Hunt, a 20-year-old right-back making his first Huddersfield start. Arshavin skinned the youngster at the first opportunity and crossed for Bendtner, who could not direct his close-ran
- To become covered with skin or a skin-like layer. A wound eventually skins over.
- To cover with skin, or as if with skin; hence, to cover superficially. It will but skin and film the ulcerous place.
- To produce, in recitation, examination, etc., the work of another for one's own, or to use cribs, memoranda, etc., which are prohibited.
- To strip of money or property; to cheat.
- To sneak off.
- To remove the top layers of paint from, revealing parts of the underlying medium or canvas.
- Short for skin up (“travel uphill on skis, snowboard, or bicycle”)
Thesaurus
Closest in meaning: pelt, pare, peel, sputter, stub, abrade, scrape, rind, tegument, shin, cutis, clamber, shinny, hide, bark, scramble
Translations
Every language
noun outer protective layer of the body of a person or animal
| Español | piel, pellejo, tegumento |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 살갗 salgat, 피부 pibu |
| 日本語 | 皮膚 hifu, 肌 hada |
| 中文 | 皮膚 /皮肤 pífū, 皮 pí, 皮子 pízi |
| हिन्दी | त्वचा tvacā, चमड़ी camṛī, चमड़ा camṛā |
| Kiswahili | ngozi |
| Português | pele |
| Français | peau |
| Deutsch | Haut |
| Italiano | pelle |
| Ελληνικά | δέρμα dérma |
| Română | piele |
| Русский | ко́жа kóža, шку́ра škúra |
| Tiếng Việt | da |
| العربية | جِلْد jild, بَشَرة bašara |
| עברית | עוֹר or |
noun outer protective layer of fruit
| Español | piel, pellejo, hollejo, cáscara |
|---|---|
| हिन्दी | छिलका chilkā |
| Português | pele, casca |
| Français | peau |
| Română | coajă |
| Русский | кожура́ kožurá, шку́рка škúrka, ко́жица kóžica |
noun skin and fur of an animal used by humans
| Español | piel |
|---|---|
| 한국어 | 가죽 gajuk |
| 日本語 | 革 kawa, 皮革 hikaku |
| 中文 | 皮 pí |
| हिन्दी | चमड़ा camṛā |
| Kiswahili | ngozi |
| Português | pele |
| Français | peau |
| Ελληνικά | δέρμα dérma, επιδερμίδα epidermída |
| Română | piele |
| Русский | шку́ра škúra, ко́жа kóža |
noun congealed layer on the surface of a liquid
| 한국어 | 막 mak, 피막 pimak |
|---|---|
| 日本語 | 膜 maku |
| Kiswahili | gamba |
| Português | película |
| Français | peau |
| Deutsch | Haut, Häutchen |
| Ελληνικά | πέτσα pétsa |
| Română | pojghiță de gheață |
| Русский | ко́рка kórka, ко́жица kóžica |
noun image used as the background of graphical user interface
| Español | máscara, icono, apariencia, aspecto |
|---|---|
| 中文 | 面板 miàn bǎn |
| Português | capa, skin |
| Français | apparence |
| Deutsch | Design |
| Italiano | interfaccia |
| Русский | скин skin |
noun alternate appearance for a 3D character model in a video game
| Español | aspecto, apariencia, figura |
|---|---|
| Português | skin |
| Русский | скин skin |
noun rolling paper for cigarettes
| Kiswahili | gamba |
|---|---|
| Português | papel de arroz |
| Ελληνικά | τσιγαρόχαρτο tsigarócharto |
| Română | foiță de țigară |
verb to injure the skin of
| हिन्दी | छिलना chilnā |
|---|---|
| Português | esfolar, raspar |
| Français | écorcher, égratigner |
| Deutsch | aufschürfen |
| Ελληνικά | γδέρνω gdérno |
| Română | zgâria |
| Русский | обдира́ть obdirátʹ, ободра́ть obodrátʹ |
verb to remove the skin of
| Español | despellejar, desollar |
|---|---|
| हिन्दी | छीलना chīlnā |
| Português | esfolar, descascar |
| Français | écorcher, dépouiller, peler |
| Deutsch | häuten |
| Italiano | scuoiare |
| Ελληνικά | γδέρνω gdérno |
| Русский | обдира́ть obdirátʹ, ободра́ть obodrátʹ |
| العربية | سَلَخَ salaḵa |
verb to cover with skin, or as if with skin; hence, to cover superficially
| Español | empellicar, empellejar |
|---|
Talk about this word "skin." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/skin. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026. skin. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/skin "skin." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/skin.Cite this
@misc{skin_2026,
title = {skin},
howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
year = {2026},
url = {https://micwyn.com/word/skin},
urldate = {2026-11-06}
}
