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excorio

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Etymology and origin of the Latin word excorio

Confidence
Established
Formation
Derivation
First attested
390–406 Vulgate More words from the 4th century
Ultimate origin
Latin corium
Etymology tree
inherited borrowed derived
Latin corium
French cuir
Italian cuoio
Spanish cuero
Latin excoriō
From the same root
Italian corazza ← corium
Latin coriāceus ← corium
French curée ← cuir

Pronunciation

  • Classical: [ɛkˈskɔ.ri.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [ekˈskɔː.ri.o][1]

Forms

excoriō (present infinitive excoriāre, perfect active excoriāvī, supine excoriātum); first conjugation[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin ex- + corium (“hide, skin”).[2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLL records it from the Old Latin translations of the Bible on, in the sense “to strip of the skin, flay”.[2]

Semantic evolution

It is a Late Latin word for flaying, found in the Vulgate and in Cassiodorus.[4][2] Medieval writers used it of flaying people, as punishment or in martyrdom, and animals, of stripping off a hide, and of peeling or stripping the bark from plants.[5] Italian scuoiare continues it,[1] and English borrowed the participle as excoriate in the early 15th century, later also in the figurative sense “to denounce”.[3]

Timeline

  • 390–406 AD – The Vulgate uses it in the Book of Micah.[4][6]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it in the Historia ecclesiastica tripartita.[4][6]
  • early 15th century – English borrows excoriate.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. To strip of the skin, flay.[4][2][7]
  2. (Medieval Latin) To strip off (a hide).[5]
  3. (Medieval Latin) To peel, strip the bark from (plants).[5]
  • English excoriate

Usage notes

Lewis and Short record a doubtful obscene use in book 10 of Apuleius' Metamorphoses.[4]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  5. ^ a b c Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch bis zum ausgehenden 13. Jahrhundert (1967–), Munich: C. H. Beck; Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  6. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson
Cite this entry

“Excorio.” Etymologically, 13 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/la/excorio. Accessed 14 Nov. 2026.

Last edited on . ·