vellum

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vel·lum

(vĕl′əm)

a. A fine parchment made from calfskin, lambskin, or kidskin and used for the pages and binding of books.

b. A work written or printed on this parchment.

2. A heavy off-white fine-quality paper resembling this parchment.

[Middle English velim, from Old French velin, from veel, calf; see veal.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

vellum

(ˈvɛləm)

1. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) a fine parchment prepared from the skin of a calf, kid, or lamb

2. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) a work printed or written on vellum

3. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) a creamy coloured heavy paper resembling vellum

adj

4. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) made of or resembling vellum

5. (Printing, Lithography & Bookbinding) (of a book) bound in vellum

[C15: from Old French velin, from velin of a calf, from veel veal]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

vel•lum

(ˈvɛl əm)

n.

1. calfskin, lambskin, kidskin, etc., treated for use as a writing surface.

2. a manuscript or the like on vellum.

3. a texture of paper or cloth resembling vellum.

adj.

4. made of or resembling vellum.

5. bound in vellum.

[1400–50; late Middle English velum, velim < Middle French ve(e)lin of a calf. See veal, -ine¹]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

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Noun	1.	vellum - a heavy creamy-colored paper resembling parchment writing paper - paper material made into thin sheets that are sized to take ink; used for writing correspondence and manuscripts
	2.	vellum - fine parchment prepared from the skin of a young animal e.g. a calf or lamb lambskin, parchment, sheepskin - skin of a sheep or goat prepared for writing on

Translations

Pergament

vélin

pergamena

vellum

[ˈveləm] N (= writing paper) → papel m vitela

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

vellum

[ˈvɛləm] n (= writing paper) → vélin m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

vellum

n → Pergament nt

vellum

vellum binding

n → Pergamenteinband m

vellum paper

n → Pergamentpapier nt

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

vellum

[ˈvɛləm] n (writing paper) → pergamena

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References in classic literature ?

She put back the page of vellum in her writing-desk, locked it, and led the way to the door.

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From brother Francis I have learned to paint on vellum, on glass, and on metal, with a knowledge of those pigments and essences which can preserve the color against damp or a biting air.

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All that was most sugared and musical and generally delusive in the old library of her fathers had been brought out to this little woodland library, and to that nucleus of old leather-bound poets and romancers, long since dead, yet as alive and singing on their shelves as any bird on the sunny boughs outside, my young lady's private purse had added all that was most sugared and musical and generally delusive in the vellum bound Japanese-paper literature of our own luxurious day.

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Then he unlocked one of the safes and drew out from an inner drawer a parchment book bound in brown vellum. He spread out the dispatch and read it carefully.

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It is written on vellum, and is some four or five thousand years old.

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The name of this old book helps us to remember that long ago there was no paper, and that books were written on vellum made from calf-skin and upon parchment made from sheep-skin.

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Just now I am afraid," he concluded, "this will seem to you but a bundle of purple velvet and vellum, but it is really a manuscript of great curiosity which comes from the oldest monastery in Asia, the Monastery of Koya-San."

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You are well aware that chemical preparations exist, and have existed time out of mind, by means of which it is possible to write upon either paper or vellum, so that the characters shall become visible only when subjected to the action of fire.