pelt
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /pɛlt/
rhymes: -ɛlt
Forms: form: pelts
Etymology: The noun is inherited from Middle English pelt (“skin of a sheep, especially without the wool”); further etymology uncertain, possibly:
* from Middle English pellet (“skin of an animal, especially a sheep”), from Anglo-Norman pelette, pellet, and Old French pelete, pelette (“thin layer, film, skin; epidermis; foreskin”), from pel (“skin; garment made of animal skin, pelisse”) (from Latin pellis (“animal skin, hide, pelt; leather; garment made of animal skin”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pel- (“to cover; to wrap; hide; skin; cloth”)) + -ete (diminutive suffix); or
* from Late Latin peletta, pelleta, pelletta (“skin of an animal, especially a sheep”).
The verb is derived from the noun.
Cognates
* Norwegian Bokmål pels (“fur; fur coat”)
* Norwegian Nynorsk pels (“fur; fur coat”)
Senses: examples: text: Perhaps the reason why he [a stuffed fox] seemed in such a ghastly rage was that he did not come by his death fairly. Otherwise his pelt would not have been so perfect. And why else was he put away up there out of sight?—and so magnificent a brush as he had too.
ref: 1879, R[ichard] J[efferies], “The First Gun”, in The Amateur Poacher, London: Smith, Elder, & Co., […], →OCLC, page 1:
text: My people got themselves pelts and pelts—there was such a trapping as comes but few times in a life. Pelts and pelts, the silver and the grey—fine pelts.
ref: 1922 July, E[velyn] Charles Vivian, “White Man’s Magic: A Story of the Canadian Mounted Police”, in The Boy’s Own Paper, volume XLV, part 9, London: “Boy’s Own Paper” Office, […], →OCLC, page 617, column 1:
glosses: The skin of an animal with the hair or wool on; either a raw or undressed hide, or a skin preserved with the hair or wool on it (sometimes worn as a garment with minimal modification).
glosses: The skin of an animal (especially a goat or sheep) with the hair or wool removed, often in preparation for tanning.
examples: text: Near-synonym: coat
text: The Cauſes and the Signs ſhall next be told, / Of ev'ry Sickneſs that infects the Fold [of sheep]. / A ſcabby Tetter on their pelts vvill ſtick, / VVhen the ravv Rain has pierc'd 'em to the quick: […]
ref: 1697, Virgil, “The Third Book of the Georgics”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, page 116, lines 670–673:
glosses: The fur or hair of a living animal.
examples: text: Put on your dress, ye shameless witch, standin' there in your pelt I'll take a strap to, for havin' the conceit out of you, for by your idling had lost me the sup of gin to keep the breath of life in me. Cover your scut, or I'll welt the skin off it.
ref: 1938, Norman Lindsay, chapter XVII, in Age of Consent, London: T[homas] Werner Laurie […], →OCLC, page 177:
glosses: Human skin, especially when bare; also, a person's hair.
glosses: A garment made from animal skins.
examples: text: If two [hawks] are flown they are certain to fell the game at once, and the falconer is always flurried by their violent propensity to crab over the "pelt."
ref: 1852, Richard F[rancis] Burton, “A Day with the Bashah”, in Falconry in the Valley of the Indus, London: John Van Voorst, […], →OCLC, page 60:
topics: falconry
hobbies
hunting
lifestyle
glosses: The body of any quarry killed by a hawk; also, a dead bird given to a hawk for food.
Hyponyms: word: bearskin
word: beaverskin
word: cowskin
word: foxskin
word: goatskin
word: otterskin
word: outskin
word: plew
word: sheepskin
word: woodshock
word: yakskin
Derived terms: peltless
peltmonger
pelt of the dog
pelt rot
Related terms: fell
pelisse
pell
pellage
pellagra
pellicle
peltry
pilch
surplice