écorché

[ ey-kawr-shey ]

noun

1. an anatomical model of part or all of the human body with the skin removed, to allow study of the underlying musculature.

écorché

/ ˌeɪkɔːˈʃeɪ /

noun

1. an anatomical figure without the skin, so that the muscular structure is visible

Word History and Origins

Origin of écorché¹

First recorded in 1855–60; from French: literally, “skinned, flayed,” adjective use of past participle écorché, from the verb écorcher, from Old French escochier “to skin, peel,” from Vulgar Latin excorticāre, equivalent to ex- + cortic- (stem of cortex “bark, rind”) + -āre infinitive suffix

Word History and Origins

Origin of écorché¹

C19: French, literally: skinned

Example Sentences

One is an écorché, an exquisite frontal rendering of the horse in red chalk with its skin removed to display the underlying musculature.

From Los Angeles Times

Ce présent consistoit en soixante-dix grands plateaux d'etain chargés de différentes sortes de confitures et de compotes, et vingt-huit autres dont chacun portoit un mouton écorché.

From Project Gutenberg

"I thought that plaster of Paris figure was not the only ecorche in the room."

From Project Gutenberg

Europe has now sunk netherward to its far-off position as in the Fore Scene, and it is beheld again as a prone and emaciated figure of which the Alps form the vertebrae, and the branching mountain- chains the ribs, the Spanish Peninsula shaping the head of the ecorche.

From Project Gutenberg

It is well for the artist to study the ecorche in the dissecting-room, but we do not want the Apollo or the Venus to leave their skins behind them when they go into the gallery for exhibition.

From Project Gutenberg