cáscara

From Vulgar Latin reconstructed as *quassicāre (“to strike repeatedly”), from Latin quassare (“to tremor; to cause to tremor by repeated strikes”) + -icō (“indicating frequent or repetitive action”), from quatiō (“to shake”) + -tō (“indicating frequent or repetitive action”). First applied to bark and peels from the manner of their removal.

• IPA^(key): [ˈkaskaɾa]

cáscara f (plural cáscaras)

1. bark from a bush or tree
   • 2002, Heriberto Feraudy Espino, Macua, page 213:

     La cáscara de este árbol era utilizada para hacer tangas.

     The bark of this tree was used to make thongs.

2. any similar outer layer, as the peel of a fruit, the rind of a melon, or the shell of an egg or nut
   • 1845, Elementos de química:

     El color leonado de la cáscara de nuez [...]

     The fawn color of the walnut shell [...]

   • 1995, Maria Jesus Gil De Antuñano, Helados, page 11:

     Las dos mitades de cáscara de piña se metenen el congelador.

     The two halves of the pineapple peel are put in the freezer.

• cascador, cascarillero

• 1879, Friedrich August Flückiger & al., Pharmacographia..., p. 346:

  The hardships of bark-collecting in the primeval forests of South America are of the severest kind, and undergone only by the half-civilized Indians and people of mixed race, in the pay of speculators or companies located in the towns. Those who are engaged in the business, especially the collectors themselves, are called Cascarilleros or Cascadores, from the Spanish word Cascara, bark.