α. see goat n. and skin n.
β. late Middle English gaytes skynn, late Middle English gaytis skynn, 1500s getys skynn, 1500s goates skynn, 1500s– goats skin, 1700s– goat's skin, 1800s– goats' skin.
goatskinn.adj.
/ˈɡəʊtskɪn/, U.S. /ˈɡoʊtˌskɪn/ A. n.
The skin of a goat or leather made from this, often used as a garment or made into a drum skin, a container for holding or carrying liquids, etc. Cf. kid-skin n.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > [noun] > skin of goat
goatskina1425
shiverine15..
goat1771
Niger goatskin1901
α.
β. a1425 (a1400) Northern Pauline Epist. (1916) Heb. xi. 37 (MED) Þei han gon aboute..in rough cloþyng, in gaytis skynnus [L. in pellibus caprinis].c1440 (?a1400) Sir Perceval (1930) l. 268 (MED) The childe hadd no thyng..Bot a gaytes skynn.1539 Bible (Great) Heb. xi. 37 Other..walked vp and downe in shepes skynnes, and goates skynnes.a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. ii. sig. O6v Where..she found Dorus, apparelled in flanen, with a goats skin cast vpon him.1607 E. Topsell Hist. Foure-footed Beastes 237 Men for honour of Bacchus, did dance vpon certain bottels made of Goats skins..wherevnto Virgill alluded this saying: Mollibus in pratis vnctos saliere pro vtres.1662 J. Davies tr. A. Olearius Voy. & Trav. Ambassadors iii. 76 Their boots..are made of Russia leather, or Goats skin.1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 177 I had on a broad Belt of Goat's-Skin dry'd, which I drew together with two Thongs of the same, instead of Buckles.1764 T. Harmer Observ. Passages Script. ii. xvii. 75 Arab tents are made of goats-skins.1834 N. A. Willard Treat. Music Hindoostan 81 A hollow cylinder of wood, resembling a cask, open at both ends..covered with crude goat's skin of different thicknesses.1894 Jrnl. Hellenic Stud. 14 151 Juno Lanuvina, Hera's Italian counterpart, is normally draped in a goat's skin with long goat-horns.1954 Western Folklore 13 116 The gourd is stitched in goat's skin and decorated at once.1989 Art Jrnl. 48 152/3 Another reference to the satyr is the goat's skin covering the barrel on which this naked, thickset man rides backwards, holding a pot of wine in his right hand.2006 A. M. S. Bakhtiari Last Khans 131 The butter and animal oil were kept in goat's skin specially prepared for this purpose.c1440 (?a1400) Sir Perceval (1930) l. 659 (MED) None oþergates was he dighte, Bot in thre gayt-skynnes.
c1450 (c1395) Bible (Wycliffite, L.V.) (Bodl. 277) (1850) 1 Kings xix. 13 A rouȝ geet skin [a1425 Royal an heeri skyn of geet; L. pellem pilosam caprarum].
1546 T. Langley tr. P. Vergil Abridgem. Notable Worke ii. vi. f. xlvii The writers of Hebrewe stories, as Iosephus sheweth vsed parchement: they wrote also in goate skynnes & shepe skynnes, in olde tyme as Herodotus declareth.
a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) i. xvii. sig. K8v He had nothing vpon him but a paire of sloppes, and vpon his bodie a Gote-skinne.
1611 Bible (King James) Heb. xi. 37 They wandered about in sheepskinnes, and goat skins . View more context for this quotation
1688 R. Holme Acad. Armory iii. 260/2 Goat skins are reckoned by the skip, which is 50 Skins.
1725 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey II. ix. 229 A goatskin fill'd with precious wine.
1787 European Mag. 12 78 He tanned goat-skins..for bookbinding.
1842 Ld. Tennyson St. Simeon Stylites in Poems (new ed.) II. 58 I wear an undress'd goatskin on my back.
1883 R. L. Stevenson Treasure Island iii. xv. 126 The marooned man in his goatskins trotted easily and lightly.
1902 Mod. Amer. Tanning I. 100 Goatskins, being of tight texture, may be satisfactorily tanned in drums.
1991 D. Harington Choiring of Trees 338 He gave him..a bota: a water bottle made of goatskin.
2010 P. Smith Just Kids 52 Robert made me a tambourine, tattooing the goatskin with astrological signs.
B. adj.
Made from the skin of a goat.
ΘΚΠ
society > occupation and work > materials > raw material > skin or hide > [adjective] > made of skin or hide of specific animals
buckskin1565
buffle1577
sheepskin1602
oxhide?1609
goatskin?1614
hogskin1658
cowhide1823
goat1833
parfleche1845
shagreened1847
pigskin1855
alligator1861
lizard-skin1895
parfleched1940
?1614 G. Chapman tr. Homer Odysses vi. 88 Wine she likewise filld Within a goat-skin bottle [Gk. ἀσκῷ ἐν αἰγείῳ].
?1615 G. Chapman tr. Homer Odysses (new ed.) xxiv. 367 His hands, had thorne-proofe hedging Mittens on; His head a Goats-skin Caske.
1652 T. Manley tr. P. Fisher Veni, vidi, Vici 76 They yield The Gorgons head, the sword, and goat-skin shield.
1719 D. Defoe Life Robinson Crusoe 177 I carried..a great clumsy ugly Goat-Skin Umbrella,..which, after all, was the most necessary Thing I had about me, next to my Gun.
1814 W. Scott Waverley I. xvi. 232 The goat-skin purse, flanked by the usual defences, a dirk and steel-wrought pistol, hung before him. View more context for this quotation
1841 United Service Jrnl. Sept. 26 Under the name of knapsack the soldiers of the British army had for many years a goat's-skin bag, in which to carry their clothes, &c.
1938 Jrnl. Amer. Mil. Hist. Found. 2 171 Its private battalion soldiers were dressed in..rough kilts..with the ‘Black Watch’ tartan, white goats-skin purses or ‘sporans’,..and low buckled shoes.
1991 L. Avrin Scribes, Script & Bks. ix. 213 Goatskin parchment has an overall grayish look and sheepskin has a yellowish hue, but otherwise it is difficult to tell the difference between the two by the hair holes.
2014 W. Buccannan Huntress of Troy 67 Ares mused as he takes a swig of his wine from a goat's skin flask.
Compounds
General attributive, appositive, etc.
ΚΠ
1700 P. Danet Compl. Dict. Greek & Rom. Antiq. at Aegis Jupiter took upon him the Name of Aegiochus, i. e. the Goat-skin-Bearer.
1726 A. Pope tr. Homer Odyssey V. xxiv. 264 His head..Fenc'd with a double cap of goatskin hair.
1838 C. R. Scott Excursions Mountains Ronda & Granada II. 101 Nightly crowded with all descriptions of people, from the grandee of the first class to the goat-skin clad swineherd.
1920 Manch. Guardian 11 Dec. 16 Goat skin hair was in poor demand.
1993 G. E. Slethaug Play of Double in Postmodern Amer. Fiction 139 Written by its author on two halves of goatskin hide.
2008 S. A. Frangoulidis Witches, Isis, Narr. 3 The servant girl has originally obtained goat skin hair rather than the hair from Pamphile's lover.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.adj.a1425