sheepskin

English

Etymology

From sheep +‎ skin.

Noun

sheepskin (countable and uncountable, plural sheepskins)

1. (uncountable) The skin of a sheep, especially when used to make parchment or in bookbinding.
   • 1891, Outing: Sport, Adventure, Travel, Fiction, volume 17, page 137:

     I confess to having felt a prejudice against sleeping in a bag, more especially a sheepskin bag, which would probably have a muttony odor; but it was pronounced to be the warmest and least cumbersome form of bedding we could have […]

2. (US, countable) A diploma.
   • 1919, Henry Blake Fuller, chapter 32, in Bertram Cope’s Year‎^[1], Chicago: R.F. Seymour, page 302:

     […] he took his sheepskin with a bow and a gesture that extinguished several of his companions;

3. (countable or uncountable) The tanned skin of a sheep with the fleece left on, especially when used for clothing, rugs, etc.

Hypernyms

• hide, leather, skin

Coordinate terms

• goatskin, kidskin, lambskin

Derived terms

• sheepskin effect

Translations

skin of a sheep

• Arabic: حَوَر (ḥawar)
• Bulgarian: овча кожа f (ovča koža)
• Catalan: badana (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 羊皮 (zh) (yángpí)

• Classical Nahuatl: ichcaēhuatl
• Esperanto: ŝafofelo
• French: peau de mouton f
• Galician: pelica f
• German: Schafspelz (de) m, Schaffell (de) n, Schafsfell (de) n, Schafleder (de) n, Schafsleder (de) n
• Greek:

  Ancient: μηλωτή f (mēlōtḗ)

• Japanese: 羊の毛皮 (ひつじのけがわ, hitsuji no kegawa)
• Latin: mastrūca f
• Maori: kiri hipi
• Persian: پوستین (fa) (pustin), وت (fa) (vat)
• Polish: baran (pl) m (colloquial), baranica (pl) f
• Portuguese: pele de ovelha f
• Russian: овчи́на (ru) f (ovčína), ове́чья шку́ра f (ovéčʹja škúra)
• Spanish: carnero (es) m, badana (es) f, zalea (es) f, piel de oveja f
• Swedish: fårskinn (sv) n

References

• OED