Excorticate

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɪkˈskɔː(ɹ)tɪkeɪt/

Definitions

1. To separate the external layer from skin or an object To remove the superficial covering of a surface entirely To peel away or strip off the outermost layer from a material or skin structure
2. To strip away the surface layer of skin or another covering from something
3. To peel off the outermost coating or epidermal layer from skin or an object

Etymology: "Excorticate" is built from two Latin pieces: "ex," meaning "out" or "off," and "cortex," meaning "bark." Latin "cortex" was the bark of a tree, and the verb built on it describes stripping that outer covering away. The word therefore has a plainly physical sense from the start: peeling bark off a trunk or skin off something else. English took the term over that same literal sense. Because "cortex" also meant the outer layer of other things, the verb moved easily beyond trees, and it is still used in ordinary description for removing an outer layer or covering. The word's history stays close to its root, so the Latin image of bark coming away from wood is what the English verb still carries.

Synonyms: peel, strip, skin