taxidermy

noun

taxi·​der·​my ˈtak-sə-ˌdər-mē How to pronounce taxidermy (audio)
: the art of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of animals and especially vertebrates
taxidermic adjective
taxidermist noun

Examples of taxidermy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web That 24/7 security was the result of a different taxidermy heist that occurred in August 2023, when two full-body-mount raccoons were stolen. Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 1 Feb. 2024 The cables that had once secured the bear had been cut, and there were drag marks on the floor from where the thieves dragged the 500-pound piece of taxidermy across the balcony. Katie Hill, Outdoor Life, 1 Feb. 2024 Those looking for landscape art, taxidermy, leather furniture and rugs should check out Buffalo Ranch, a home decor store in Weston that specializes in the rustic lodge look. Sarah Gish, Kansas City Star, 24 Jan. 2024 The creation of taxidermy coincided with the birth of museums, and many people still associate taxidermy with natural history centers. Chris Dorsey, Forbes, 6 Jan. 2023 The customers were largely oddity collectors, people who buy strange things like medical equipment or taxidermy, and sometimes transform them into new creations like jewelry or figures. Brenna Ehrlich, Rolling Stone, 4 Dec. 2023 The family also added their own artwork from their collection and their personal taxidermy to the home. Sarah Yang, Sunset Magazine, 27 Dec. 2023 The object in question was a twelve-foot taxidermy crocodile wearing a saddle and bridle, its long mouth open in an evil grin. Rachel Monroe, The New Yorker, 9 Nov. 2023 With his faux taxidermy, Daniel Roseberry referenced the animals in Dante Alighieri’s Inferno. José Criales-Unzueta, Vogue, 27 Oct. 2023

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'taxidermy.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French taxidermie, from Greek táxis "order, arrangement" + dérma "skin" + French -ie -y entry 2 — more at taxis, -derm

Note: Coinage of French taxidermie has been attributed in recent references (as, for example, A. Scheersoi and S.D. Tunicliffe, editors, Natural History Dioramas—Traditional Exhibits for Current Educational Themes, Springer, 2019, p. 13) to the naturalist and taxidermist Louis Dufresne (1752-1832). Dufresne used the word in the title and text of an article in tome XXI of the Nouveau dictionnaire d'histoire naturelle (Paris, An XI—1803): "taxidermie… des mots τάξις, ordre, arrangement, et δέρμα, peau" (p. 507; "taxidermy … from the words táxis, order, arrangement, and dérma, skin"). (Authorship of the article is attributed to Dufresne in a footnote by the dictionary's editor for ornithology, Louis Pierre Vieillot.) However, taxidermie appears three years earlier in a chapter of the Traité élémentaire et complet d'ornithologie by the zoologist François Marie Daudin (1776-1803), entitled "Sur l'art de taxidermie considéré par rapport aux Oiseaux; c'est-à-dire, sur l'art de dépouiller, de droguer, de conserver et de monter des Peaux des Oiseaux" (tome 1, Paris, 1800—An VIII, p. 439; "On the art of taxidermy considered in relationship to birds, or on the art of removing, treating, preserving and mounting the skins of birds"). Neither Daudin nor Dufresne give any indication that either was the originator of the word.

First Known Use

1820, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of taxidermy was in 1820

Dictionary Entries Near taxidermy

Cite this Entry

“Taxidermy.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/taxidermy. Accessed 19 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

taxidermy

noun
taxi·​der·​my ˈtak-sə-ˌdər-mē How to pronounce taxidermy (audio)
: the skill or occupation of preparing, stuffing, and mounting skins of animals
taxidermic adjective
Etymology

derived from Greek taxis "arrangement" and Greek derma "skin" and English -y, noun suffix

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