Pell

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /pɛl/

Definitions

1. To strike or hit repeatedly with force
2. To remove the outer layer or skin of something, often in the context of fruits or vegetables
3. A term used historically to refer to a large or thick hide or skin of an animal

Etymology: In Latin, "pellis" meant an animal's skin or pelt, the hide a hunter stripped from a beast. This verb carries that sense of a covering removed from the outside of something, leaving the flesh beneath. Its relatives are less obvious. "Fell," an old word for an animal's hide, and "film," a thin layer or membrane, are distantly related to it, so a peeled fruit and a stripped pelt share a faint common ancestry.