cáscara

See also: cascara, cascará, and cascarà

Spanish

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin reconstructed as *quassicāre (“to strike repeatedly”), from Latin quassāre (“to tremor; to cause to tremor by repeated strikes”) + -icō (suffix indicating frequent or repetitive action), from quatiō (“to shake”) + -tō (suffix indicating frequent or repetitive action). First applied to bark and peels from the manner of their removal. Cognate with English cask and Portuguese casca.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈkaskaɾa/ [ˈkas.ka.ɾa]

• Audio (Venezuela):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -askaɾa
• Syllabification: cás‧ca‧ra

Noun

cáscara f (plural cáscaras)

1. bark from a bush or tree

   Synonym: corteza

   • 2002, Heriberto Feraudy Espino, Macua, page 213:

     La cáscara de este árbol era utilizada para hacer tangas.

     The bark of this tree was used to make thongs.

2. any similar outer layer, as the peel of a fruit, the rind of a melon, or the shell of an egg or nut, husk of a coconut
   • 1845, Elementos de química:

     El color leonado de la cáscara de nuez [...]

     The fawn color of the walnut shell [...]

   • 1995, Maria Jesus Gil De Antuñano, Helados, page 11:

     Las dos mitades de cáscara de piña se meten en el congelador.

     The two halves of the pineapple peel are put in the freezer.

Derived terms

• cascador
• cáscara de nuez
• cascarillero
• cascarita
• huevo en cáscara

 

References

• Friedrich August Flückiger & al. (1879) Pharmacographia... (in Spanish), page 346
• : The hardships of bark-collecting in the primeval forests of South America are of the severest kind, and undergone only by the half-civilized Indians and people of mixed race, in the pay of speculators or companies located in the towns. Those who are engaged in the business, especially the collectors themselves, are called Cascarilleros or Cascadores, from the Spanish word Cascara, bark.

Further reading

• “cáscara”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10

Anagrams

• Caracas
• carcasa