suede

Etymology

It is borrowed from French Suède (“Sweden”), the French name of the country,^[2][3][4][5] taken from the phrase gants de Suède (“gloves of Sweden”), used for gloves of undressed kid;^{[2][3][6][7][8]} English “suède gloves” was a partial translation of it.^[4][9] The OED takes the word as a shortening of the English loan gant de suede, recorded from 1832, or perhaps directly of the French phrase, with the country's name reinterpreted as the name of the leather;^[10] French itself used suède for a suede glove from 1840 and as an adjective from 1901.^[10] Etymonline and Partridge treat it under the name of the Swedes, Swede and Sweden.^[2][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

Made of suede, as an adjective: 1864, in the North American and United States Gazette.^[10] Etymonline dates the adjective, "of undressed kid", to 1874 and the noun to 1884,^[2] as Barnhart does,^[3] and Merriam-Webster's Unabridged dates the noun to 1883.^[9] Dictionary.com gives 1855–60,^[12] while the Shorter Oxford, the New Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English date it to the mid-17th century.^[8][13][14]

Semantic evolution

The word began as a trade word for gloves of undressed kid, and French gants de Suède was used in English by 1859.^[2][10] From 1873 suede was the name of a colour like that of the leather, a tan or grey-brown,^[10] and since 1878 the leather itself, originally kidskin, rubbed or buffed to a slightly rough nap, and also fabrics finished to look like it.^[10][9] By 1885 there were suede shoes,^[2] and since 1887 suede could mean a shoe or other article made of suede.^[10] An imitation fabric, suedette, is recorded from 1898^[10] (Etymonline: 1908).^[2] The verb, to give leather or cloth a suede finish, dates from 1921.^[9][15] In American Black slang suede was used for a dark-skinned Black person from about 1960, and as an adjective for dark-skinned from 1966.^[16]

Timeline

• 1832 – gant de suede, a suede glove, borrowed from French.^[10]
• 1864 – adjective, made of suede.^[10] Etymonline dates the adjective to 1874.^[2]
• 1873 – a colour like that of suede, tan or grey-brown.^[10]
• 1878 – soft leather with a napped surface, and fabric made to look like it.^[10] Etymonline and Barnhart date this noun to 1884, Merriam-Webster's Unabridged to 1883.^[2][3][9]
• 1885 – suede shoes.^[2]
• 1887 – a shoe or other article made of suede.^[10]
• 1898 – suedette, an imitation suede fabric.^[10]
• 1921 – verb, to give a suede finish to leather or cloth.^[9]
• c. 1960 – US Black slang, a dark-skinned Black person.^[16]

Meanings

Noun

1. Leather, originally kidskin, buffed on the flesh side to give it a soft, velvety nap: a pair of grey suede boots.^{[17][9][4][10]}
2. A woven or knitted fabric finished to look like this leather; suede cloth.^[9][4]
3. A light brown or grey-brown colour, like that of suede.^[9][10][15]
4. A shoe or other article made of suede.^[10]

Adjective

1. Made of or covered with suede.^[10][15][17]

Verb

1. To give leather or cloth a suede finish.^[9][15]

Related words

• Swede
• Sweden
• suedette

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
4. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
12. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
13. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
14. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ a b c d The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
16. ^ a b Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
17. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins