veldskoen

V4E1L1D2S1K5O1E1N1
General South African/ˈfeltskʊn/UK/ˈvɛldskʊn/UK/ˈfɛltskʊn/

noun

Originally, a shoe with untanned leather upper sewn without nails, similar to the Canadian moccasin; now generally a heavy boot for outdoor labour.

OriginDutch veldschoen ← Afrikaans veldskoen →
First used 19th c.Scrabble 17
Ask AI about this wordChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

Meanings

nounveldskoen (plural veldskoens or veldskoene)

plural veldskoens · plural veldskoene · alternative veldschoen

  1. South AfricaOriginally, a shoe with untanned leather upper sewn without nails, similar to the Canadian moccasin; now generally a heavy boot for outdoor labour.First known use 19th c.

    [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 […]

    1978, André Brink, Rumours of Rain, Vintage, published 2000, page 28

Origin

  1. Afrikaansveldskoen
  2. Dutchveldschoen
  3. Englishveldskoen

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

More words from Dutch, Afrikaans

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

veldskoen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/veldskoen

MLA

“veldskoen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/veldskoen. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “veldskoen,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/veldskoen.

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