pigskin
/ˈpɪɡˌskɪn/noun
pigskin is spelled P-I-G-S-K-I-N: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,884th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, pigskin means “The skin of a pig” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of pigskin is pigskins.
How many letters and syllables are in pigskin?
| Letters | 7: P-I-G-S-K-I-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 69,884th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is pigskin?
Pigskin appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 69,884th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce pigskin?
- /ˈpɪɡˌskɪn/
Pigskin has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-pigskin.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of pigskin
- pigskins plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does pigskin mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The skin of a pig.
- 2
Leather made from the skin of a pig.
- 3
USslangA football.
- 4
derogatoryoffensivevulgarA white person.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Pigskin in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense leather made from the skin of a pig:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Portuguese | pele de porco |
| Spanish | piel de cerdo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does pigskin come from?
Compound of pig + skin. The American football is a direct descendant of the ball used in the game of rugby. The rugby ball originally was made of a pig’s bladder with a leather cover; the earliest versions of the leather exterior sometimes were made of pigskin.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).