English → Latin
“skin” in Latin
cutisliving human skin; rind, surface; the appearance, outside of somethingtergumback, rear; surfacepellōto push, drive, hurl, impel, propel; expel, banish, eject, thrust out; to strike, set in motion; to rout, put to flight,vellusthe wool shorn from a sheep; fleece; wool; the hide or pelt of an animaltergusback, rear; hide, skincoriumanimal skin; hide, fell; leather; leather belt, whip; crust, coat, peel, shellexuviaespoils, booty; skin of a snake etc. sloughed off; remains (that which has been taken off)membrānathe skin or membrane that covers parts of the body; (especially) the skin or slough of snakes; the thin skin of plants amembrānulaa little skin or membrane; parchment; document, something written on parchment
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
skin s.
cutis (of men): tergus (of animals; both, the skin without hair): pellis (bristly, with pili): vellus (woolly, with villi. Men have cutis; elephants, snakes, etc., tergora; lions, goals, dogs, etc., pelles; sheep, vellera, Döderlein). Skin, when taken off, pellis: corium (thick hide): exuviae (poetical). A thin or fine skin, membrana; membranula (e.g., a fine membrane). Proverbially. He is all skin and bones, ossa atque pellis totus est (Plaut., Aul., 3, 6, 28); vix ossibus haeret (Verg.): I should not like to be in his skin, *nolim esse eo, quo ille est, loco: to come off with a whole skin, integrum abire; salvum evadere; latere tecto evadere (Ter., Heaut., 4, 2, 5, Ruhnken): the skin of a horse, pellis: his skin is harsh and dry, aret pellis (Verg.): a harsh, dry skin, pellis dura ac frigida: to cast its skin (of the serpent), pellem exuere; vernationem or senectam exuere.
Skin of certain vegetables (e.g., the onion), cutis (thin covering of soft vegetables; e.g., of berries, of the kernel of a nut): membrana: tunica (membrana, of chestnuts, walnuts, etc.; tunica, of mushrooms, wheat, bark, etc.): corium (thick outward skin; e.g., of grapes): callus: callum (of apples, etc.): folliculus (husk of corn).
skin v.
To take off a skin, pellem detrahere alicui or alicujus corpori (not deglubere).
To cover with a skin: anything (e.g., a wound) is skinned over, obducta est alicui rei cicatrix.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for skin?
- The usual Latin words for “skin” are cutis, tergum, pellō; also vellus, tergus, corium. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.