skeuomorph means A design feature copied from a similar feature in another object, even when not functionally necessary. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 87 out of 100.
skeuomorph is pronounced /ˈskjuːəmɔɹf/.
Why “skeuomorph” is a great word
SKEUOMORPH — [Noun] A design feature copied from a similar feature in another object, even when not functionally necessary. From Ancient Greek σκεῦος (skeûos, "implement, tool, vessel") + μορφή (morphḗ, "form"), modeled after words like zoomorph; first recorded in English 1885–90. Unlike "anachronism," which concerns temporal displacement, or "affordance," which signals a functional possibility, a skeuomorph is a vestigial echo, a fossil of utility preserved as ornament. It is the stitching rendered in plastic on a vinyl car seat, the shutter-click sound from a silent digital camera, and the floppy disk icon that still means "save"—a quiet pact with the past, a borrowed familiarity that softens the vertigo of progress.
Etymology
From Ancient Greek σκεῦος (skeûos, “implement, tool, vessel”) + μορφή (morphḗ, “form”), modeled after zoomorph (“resembling an animal”) and phyllomorph (“resembling a plant”).
noun
- A design feature copied from a similar feature in another object, even when not functionally necessary.“As soon as man began to make things, to fasten a handle to a stone implement, to construct a wattled roof, to weave a mat, skeuomorphs became an inseparable part of his brain, and ultimately occasioned a mental craving or expectancy.”