Meanings
alternative cuirboille · alternative cuir-bouilli · alternative cuir-bouilly · alternative cuirbouly
- uncountableLeather treated so as to become tough and rigid (and able to hold a moulded shape and decoration), used for artwork, carrying cases, and armor.
Cuir-bouilli was leather softened by boiling (generally in oil), and stamped or moulded into a definite form when in that condition; upon drying it became intensely hard and tough.
1909, Charles Henry Ashdown, European Arms & Armor, page 65
Origin
- Frenchcuir bouilli
- Middle Englishquir-boili
- Englishcuir bouilli
In earlier uses, from Middle English quir-boili, cuirboille; in its modern form, borrowed from or respelling according to French cuir bouilli, from cuir (“leather”) + bouilli (“boiled”).
More words from Middle English, French
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
cuir bouilli. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cuir%20bouilli
“cuir bouilli.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cuir%20bouilli. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cuir bouilli,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cuir%20bouilli.
Source: cuir bouilli on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.