Emily Dickinson Lexicon

SKIN, n.¹ [Sax. scin; Sw. skinn; Dan. skind, a skin; G. schinden, to flay; Ir. scann, a membrane; W. ysgin, a robe made of skin, a pelisse, said to be from cin, a spread or covering. But in Welsh, cèn is skin, peel or rind. This may signify a covering, or a peel, from stripping.]

1. The natural covering of animal bodies, consisting of the cuticle or scarf-skin, the rete mucosum, and the cutis or hide. The cuticle is very thin and insensible; the cutis is thicker and very sensible. Harvey.
2. A hide; a pelt; the skin of an animal separated from the body, whether green, dry or tanned.
3. The body; the person; in ludicrous language. – L'Estrange.
4. The hark or husk of a plant; the exterior coat of fruit and plants.