coriaceous

American  

[kawr-ee-ey-shuhs, kohr-, kor-] / ˌkɔr iˈeɪ ʃəs, ˌkoʊr-, ˌkɒr- /

adjective

1. of or like leather.

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coriaceous British  

/ ˌkɔːrɪˈeɪʃəs /

adjective

1. of or resembling leather

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Other Word Forms

• subcoriaceous adjective

Etymology

Origin of coriaceous

First recorded in 1665–75, coriaceous is from the Late Latin word coriāceus leathern. See corium, -aceous

Explanation

Coriaceous is a botanist's term for leathery in appearance, or just tough. You're not going to see it often used outside scientific contexts. To remember this word, think of corrugated which also describes a kind of surface roughness. Or think about how courageous people like sailors and mountain climbers end up with coriaceous or leathery skin. The word itself is a lesson in historical linguistics: Coriaceous is related to the Latin word corium, which entered English in the 1650s, and traces its history back to the Pan Indo European root *(s)ker-(1), which is responsible for the Sanskrit krtih "hide," and the Old English sceran "to cut, shear."

Example Sentences

Leaves of two sorts; floating ones more or less coriaceous, with a dilated petioled blade, different in form from the thinner submersed ones.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Involucre globular; the imbricated scales coriaceous and appressed at base, attenuate to long stiff points with hooked tips.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Seeds ascending, with a close coriaceous coat, and some albumen.—Perennial herbs, with almost sessile 3-foliolate leaves; the thin leaflets doubly serrate and incised.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Seeds 1 or 2, enclosed in a white membranaceous many-cleft aril.—Low evergreen shrubs, with smooth serrulate coriaceous opposite leaves and very small green flowers solitary or fascicled in the axils.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

C. vària, L. A perennial herb with ascending stems; leaves sessile; leaflets 15–25, oblong; flowers rose-color; pods coriaceous, 3–7-jointed, the 4 angled joints 3–4´´ long.—Conn. to N. J.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Related Words

• rugged
• wrinkled