Coriaceous
Adjective
- Resembling or having the texture of leather.
Example Sentences
“Vegan leather can still have a coriaceous feel to it.”
“The ripe fruit had a pleasantly coriaceous skin.”
“This plant species is marked by smooth, coriaceous leaves.”
Word Origin
Latin, late 17th century
Why this word?
This term stems from the late Latin “coriaceus,” originally from the Latin “corium,” meaning “skin, hide, leather.” “Coriaceous” is often used as an adjective in the botanical field — the large, paddle-shaped leaves of rhododendrons, for instance, are coriaceous. In biology taxonomy terms, “subcoriaceus” means “somewhat leathery,” and “tenuicoriaceus” means “thinly or finely coriaceous.”