Hides: Colloquial Language vs. Leather Trade Terminology
The term "skins" can be distinguished between its colloquial use and its use in leather terminology.
In colloquial language, “hides” usually refers to all animal skins that still have fur or hair on them, e.g., lambskin, cowhide, bearskin, etc. In everyday speech, “skin” refers to the outer layer of all animals and humans.
In the leather trade, the term “hides” refers to the tanned skins of small animals such as calves, goats, sheep, lambs, etc. The term is used regardless of whether hair is still present on the skin or not.
Additional sources (last accessed March 14, 2019):
- leder-info(dot)de/index.php/Felle
- leder-info(dot)de/index.php/Haut
- lederzentrum.de/wiki/index.php/Oberhaut
