Etymograph

English

excoriate

Excoriate comes from Late Latin excoriō ‘to take the skin or hide off, flay, skin’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)koryóm.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)koryóm1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*korjom1reconstructed
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcorium2‘hide, skin’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEexcoriō2‘to take the skin or hide off, flay, skin’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEexcoriātus2perfect passive participle of excoriō
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*excoriaten2reconstructed
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1543excoriate2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin corium
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English excoriate
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1543, Thomas Phaer: “If the bowelles be excoriate, ye shall gyue thys…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)koryómWiktionary, Latin coriumreconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*korjomWiktionary, Latin coriumreconstructed
  3. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEcoriumWiktionary, English excoriate‘hide, skin’
  4. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEexcoriōWiktionary, English excoriate‘to take the skin or hide off, flay, skin’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEexcoriātusWiktionary, English excoriateperfect passive participle of excoriō
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*excoriatenWiktionary, English excoriatereconstructed
  7. Englishearliest quotation c. 1543excoriateWiktionary, English excoriate. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1543, Thomas Phaer: “If the bowelles be excoriate, ye shall gyue thys…”

The story

First attested in the first part of the 15ᵗʰ century, in Middle English; inherited from Middle English *excoriaten (only attested in its past participle), borrowed from Late Latin excoriātus perfect passive participle of excoriō (‘to take the skin or hide off, flay, skin’), from ex- (‘out off, from’) + corium (‘hide, skin’) + -ō.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut off, sever’

across, share, short, card, cross, cancer, screen, shirt, circle, circuit, score, curve, crucial, scare, circus, skirt, carnival, circulation, curb, scar, scrutiny, crest, cancellation, circa, shrine, shear, shred, carnage, incarceration, raffle, carcinoma, shrewd, coronary, corona, crux, scorpion, shard, carnal, cirque, circulate, 117 more

through Late Latin corium ‘hide, skin’

currier, 6 more

Today it means

verb To remove the skin and/or fur of, to flay, to skin.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “excoriate”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin corium. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)koryóm / excoriate

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