Debarking

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. The act of stripping the outer layer of bark from a tree or log ; the process of unloading people or goods from a ship, airplane, or vehicle
2. Removing the protective covering of wood called bark ; disembarking or taking off passengers or freight from a mode of transport
3. Stripping bark from trees or timber to prepare or process them ; unloading or allowing passengers or cargo to leave a transportation vessel

Etymology: The word "debarking" is a fine example of two unrelated English words that happen to look identical. One form comes from French: "débarquer" meant to unload from a ship, from "de-" (removal) and "barque", a small ship. That sense gave English "debark", to disembark from a vessel, and the same ship-leaving sense is what the sailor's word carries when it describes passengers going ashore. The sense in your meaning, stripping bark from wood, has a different origin. Here the verb is simply "de-" attached to "bark", the outer covering of a tree. Removing the bark of a log is exactly what the prefix says: taking something off. This is a plain English formation rather than a borrowing, so the word's history is mostly one of combining familiar parts.

Synonyms: removing bark, stripping bark