swanskin

[ swon-skin ]

noun

1. the skin of a swan, with the feathers on.
2. a closely woven twill-weave flannel for work clothes.

swanskin

/ ˈswɒnˌskɪn /

noun

1. the skin of a swan with the feathers attached
2. a fine twill-weave flannel fabric

Word History and Origins

Origin of swanskin¹

First recorded in 1600–10; swan ¹ + skin

Example Sentences

“Did you, um, do something with her swanskin?”

From Literature

And inside that cage was a small bird, like none Hazel had ever seen, as gleaming white as the feathers of the swanskin.

From Literature

There was a swanskin, and you thought it might make you beautiful.

From Literature

During the reign of Louis XV. carved Indian and China fans displaced to some extent those formerly imported from Italy, which had been painted on swanskin parchment prepared with various perfumes.

From Project Gutenberg

Among them were seven intricately painted swanskin fans that Kokoschka decorated for her between 1912 and 1914, partly as gifts and partly because he had chosen the illumination of fans as a special project for Vienna's famous arts and crafts school, the Wiener Werkstatte, where he worked as an apprentice and later as a teacher.

From Time Magazine Archive