scrimshaw
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A mid-19th-century scrimshaw (noun sense 1) made from a whale’s tooth, depicting a clipper flying an American flag.[n 1]
English
Etymology
,_mid-19th_century_(CH_18657581).jpg)
The origin of the verb is unknown, but it has possibly been influenced by the surname Scrimshaw. Various etymologies have been proposed (for example, that it derives from scrimshank (“(Britain, military slang) to be idle, to shirk duty”)), but the Oxford English Dictionary does not consider any of them convincing.
The noun is probably derived from the verb.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈskɹɪmʃɔː/
Audio (Southern England) (file) - (General American) IPA(key): /ˈskɹɪmˌʃɔ/, /-ˌʃɑ/
- Hyphenation: scrim‧shaw
Verb
scrimshaw (third-person singular simple present scrimshaws, present participle scrimshawing, simple past and past participle scrimshawed) (originally US, nautical)
- (transitive)
- To create (a small ornamental handicraft also called a scrimshaw) by carving or engraving on bone (originally whalebone or whales' teeth), ivory, or other materials.
- To carve or engrave (bone, ivory, or other materials) with ornamental designs.
- To carve or engrave (ornamental designs) on bone, ivory, or other materials.
- (intransitive) To make a handicraft of scrimshaw.
Derived terms
- scrimshawed (adjective)
- scrimshawer
- scrimshawing (noun)
Translations
to create (a small ornamental handicraft also called a scrimshaw) by carving or engraving on bone, ivory, or other materials
to carve or engrave (bone, ivory, or other materials) with ornamental designs
to carve or engrave (ornamental designs) on bone, ivory, or other materials
to make a handicraft of scrimshaw
Noun
scrimshaw (countable and uncountable, plural scrimshaws) (originally US, nautical, also attributively)
- (countable) A small ornamental handicraft created by carving or engraving bone (originally whalebone or whales' teeth), ivory, or other materials, formerly produced by sailors on whaling ships to pass the time on long voyages.
- Synonyms: (archaic) scrimshander, (archaic) scrimshandy
- 2008, Neil Cicierega (lyrics and music), “Modify”, in View-Monster, performed by Lemon Demon:
- Rooney got his skull exposed, doggone it
Soon he's gonna get scrimshaw carved on it
- (uncountable) The manufacture of small ornamental handicrafts by carving or engraving bone, ivory, or other materials, formerly by sailors on whaling ships to pass the time on long voyages.
- Synonyms: (obsolete, rare) scrimshander, scrimshandering
Translations
small ornamental handicraft created by carving or engraving bone, ivory, or other materials
manufacture of small ornamental handicrafts by carving or engraving bone, ivory, or other materials
Notes
- ^ From the collection of the Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, New York City, New York, U.S.A.
References
- ^ “scrimshaw, v.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
- ^ Eva Halat (2005) “The History of Scrimshaw”, in Robert Dohrenwend, transl., Contemporary Scrimshaw, Ludwigshafen, Rhineland-Palatinate: Verlag Angelika Hörnig, →ISBN, page 17.
- ^ “scrimshaw, v.”, in OED Online
, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022.
- ^ “scrimshaw, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, March 2022; “scrimshaw, n.”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
