veldskoen

English

Alternative forms

• veldschoen

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch veldschoen (Cape Dutch), from vel (“skin, hide”) + schoen (“shoe”); later reinforced by Afrikaans veldskoen.

Pronunciation

• (General South African) IPA^(key): /ˈfeltskʊn/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈvɛldskʊn/, /ˈfɛltskʊn/

Noun

veldskoen (plural veldskoens or veldskoene)

1. (South Africa) Originally, a shoe with untanned leather upper sewn without nails, similar to the Canadian moccasin; now generally a heavy boot for outdoor labour. [from 19th c.]
   • 1978, André Brink, Rumours of Rain, Vintage, published 2000, page 28:

     [A]ll my life I've been surrounded by violence. Not in the way any of my quite long line of pioneer forefathers experienced it, leaving their veldskoen tracks through history […]

See also

• vellie
• veldtschoon

References

1978: A Dictionary of South African English. Edited Jean Branford. Oxford.