bookfell

Etymology

From Middle English bocfel (“parchment”), from Old English bōcfell (“parchment, vellum”), equivalent to book + fell. Cognate with Old High German buohfel, puohfell (“parchment”), Middle High German buohvël (“parchment”), Old Norse bókfell (“parchment”).

bookfell means A skin prepared for writing upon; a sheet of vellum or parchment; paper. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 90 out of 100.

Why this word is great

BOOKFELL — [Noun] A prepared animal skin, such as vellum or parchment, used as a writing surface, or the manuscript thus created. From Middle English bocfel ("parchment"), from Old English bōcfell ("parchment, vellum"), a compound of bōc ("book") + fell ("skin, hide"). Unlike vellum, which specifies the fine, calfskin substrate, or paper, which denotes the later technology of pulped plant fibers, bookfell is the blunt, foundational term for the medieval word's physical substance. It is the taut, hairless expanse under the scribe's quill; the faint, pebbled texture of an illuminated capital; the heavy, cool weight of a codex in the lap—the very skin on which thought was once stretched and preserved, a testament that every exalted idea once wore a coat of hair.

noun

A skin prepared for writing upon; a sheet of vellum or parchment; paper.
A vellum or parchment manuscript.“Write this on a bookfell or parchment so long that it may embrace the head on the outside, and hang it on the neck of the man who needs it; it will soon be well with him.”