cuir-bouilli

English

Etymology

French cuir (“leather”) + bouilli (“boiled”).

Noun

cuir-bouilli (uncountable)

1. Leather moulded into a particular shape and then hardened, for making armor.

   • 1909, Cuir-bouilli was leather softened by boiling (generally in oil), and stamped or moulded into a definite form when in that condition; upon drying it became intensely hard and tough. — Charles Henry Ashdown, European Arms & Armor, page 65.