saffian

S1A1F4F4I1A1N1

noun

A leather made from goatskins or sheepskins which is tanned with sumac and then brightly dyed.

OriginRussian сафья́н →
Scrabble 13
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounsaffian (countable and uncountable, plural saffians)

plural saffians

  1. countableuncountableA leather made from goatskins or sheepskins which is tanned with sumac and then brightly dyed.

    One of the three volumes Cyby had brought was as large as the top of a small table […]; from the arms impressed upon its saffian cover, I supposed it to be the history of some old noble family.

    1980, Gene Wolfe, chapter VI, in The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun; 1), New York: Simon & Schuster, →ISBN, page 67

Origin

  1. Russianсафья́н
  2. Englishsaffian

From Russian сафья́н (safʹján).

More words from Russian

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

saffian. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saffian

MLA

“saffian.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saffian. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “saffian,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/saffian.

Source: saffian on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.