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shagreen

[shuh-green]
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noun
  1. an untanned leather with a granular surface, prepared from the hide of a horse, shark, seal, etc.
  2. the rough skin of certain sharks, used as an abrasive.
adjective
  1. Also sha·greened. resembling, covered with, or made of shagreen.

Origin of shagreen

1605–15; < French chagrin, variant of sagrin < Turkish sağrι rump, crupper
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for shagreen

Historical Examples

  • Shagreen was formerly very extensively used for covering the cases of watches, spectacles, surgical instruments, &c.

    Cooley's Practical Receipts, Volume II

    Arnold Cooley

British Dictionary definitions for shagreen

shagreen

noun
  1. the rough skin of certain sharks and rays, used as an abrasive
  2. a rough grainy leather made from certain animal hides

Word Origin

C17: from French chagrin, from Turkish çagri rump; also associated through folk etymology with shag 1, green
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012