vellum means A type of parchment paper made from the skin of a lamb, baby goat, or calf. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 85 out of 100.
Why this word is great
VELLUM — [Noun] A fine parchment traditionally made from calfskin, lambskin, or kidskin, or a high-quality paper resembling it. From Middle English *velyum*, borrowed from Anglo-French *velin*, from Old French *veel* ("veal, calf"), from Latin *vitulinus* ("of a calf"). Unlike the generic "parchment"—a workmanlike term for any scraped hide—or the democratic "paper"—a utilitarian product of pulped fiber—vellum is an aristocrat of surfaces, defined by its costly origin and flawless plane. It is the cool, resilient silence beneath a scribe's quill, the luminous page of a psalter holding its colors fast for centuries, and the faint, map-like tracery of hair follicles visible in a beam of light. It is skin elevated to scripture, a stubborn physical faith that some words are meant to outlast the hand that formed them.
noun
- A type of parchment paper made from the skin of a lamb, baby goat, or calf.“Little, however, of the wall was seen, for it was nearly hidden by the arched book-cases; and the ponderous tomes, mostly bound in black or white vellum, long since grown dingy with age, contrasted forcibly with the gayer ornaments of their habitation.”
- A writing paper of very high quality.