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• Cordovan
  Cordovan

  noun

  a native or inhabitant of Córdoba, Spain.
• cordovan
  cordovan

  noun

  a fine leather now made principally from horsehide, isolated from the skin layers above and below it and tanned

Cordovan

American  

[kawr-duh-vuhn] / ˈkɔr də vən /

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Córdoba, Spain.

2. (lowercase) a soft, smooth leather originally made at Córdoba of goatskin but later made also of split horsehide, pigskin, etc.

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adjective

1. of Córdoba, Spain.

2. (lowercase) designating or made of cordovan.

Cordovan ¹ British  

/ ˈkɔːdəvən /

noun

1. a native or inhabitant of Córdoba, Spain

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adjective

1. of or relating to Córdoba, Spain

cordovan ² British  

/ ˈkɔːdəvən /

noun

1. a fine leather now made principally from horsehide, isolated from the skin layers above and below it and tanned

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Etymology

Origin of Cordovan

First recorded in 1585–95; Cordov(a) + -an

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Cordovan cordovan

That he is no great playwright is revealed by the raveled theme of Borderland, a melodrama which takes place in the hunting lodge of two bad brothers named Cordovan.

From Time Magazine Archive

Where the path was not slick with ice, it was gooey with mud, but Bobby's scuffed Cordovan oxfords never faltered.

From Time Magazine Archive

The Cordovan boys have asked a pretty girl and her novelist fiance up for a houseparty.

From Time Magazine Archive

It had long since been dissipated; and no similar collection had been attempted in Granada, where learning was never in that palmy state which it reached under the Cordovan dynasty.

From The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic — Volume 2 by William Hickling Prescott

The rounded arches are separated by cylindrical pillars—I call them so for want of a better word—which rest on slender columns of different colours, reminding one of the early or Cordovan style.

From Southern Spain by A. F. (Albert Frederick) Calvert

On this day, Drollinger’s size-17 feet were clad in Allen Edmonds shoes made of black cordovan, a leather that, Drollinger says, more than justifies its high price with outstanding durability.

From New York Times ● Oct. 29, 2019

I thought, ‘Well, you know, I could put sequins on them. I could make them in cordovan leather or alligator or something,’ but I thought it would be more profound to actually alter their shape.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 5, 2018

Then, while browsing Brooks Brothers’ website, he stumbled across a picture of a younger model wearing burgundy shell cordovan leather Alden tassel loafers with brown flannel pants and a navy blazer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2016

They are sitting in the playroom under a chair; neither toe nor heel sit evenly on the ground, and what was a rich cordovan leather is now murky with filth and dust.

From Salon ● Jan. 29, 2013

Under some road maps in the glove compartment, Ben retrieved a rusty can of cordovan polish and a thin silken handkerchief spotted with dried circles of polish.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy