taxidermy

noun

taxi·​der·​my ˈtak-sə-ˌdər-mē 

: the art of preparing, stuffing, and mounting the skins of animals and especially vertebrates

taxidermic

ˌtak-sə-ˈdər-mik 

adjective

taxidermist

ˈtak-sə-ˌdər-mist 

noun

Examples of taxidermy in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

All facilities that are authorized to perform taxidermy in the state must obtain a permit from DEEP to perform taxidermy. —Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 18 Dec. 2024

And when the Adams character recovers her premarital creativity as an artist, Heller inadvertently trivializes her gallery show with a brief, piddling montage of making dead-animal taxidermy and painting Alex Katz–style portraits of her pregnant friends. —Armond White, National Review, 13 Dec. 2024

Kate Micucci, from the folk-rock-comedy duo Garfunkel and Oats, stars as Stacey, a quirky woman who loves taxidermy. —Brooke Knisley, Vulture, 6 Dec. 2024

From taking trips to making art, exploring ancient ruins, building model ships, restoring old cars, blowing glass, writing novels, penning poetry, and displaying taxidermy—there are as many choices as there are happy retirees to pursue them. —Wes Moss, Forbes, 21 Nov. 2024

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

Kids Definition

taxidermy

noun

taxi·​der·​my ˈtak-sə-ˌdər-mē 

: the skill or occupation of preparing, stuffing, and mounting skins of animals

taxidermic

ˌtak-sə-ˈdər-mik 

adjective

Etymology

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