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tannery

tannery

5 7.5
A place where people turn animal skins into leather using chemicals
  • noun
  • /ˈtænəri/
translation icon : curtiduría
  • I followed Frau Rendenbach through the tannery, which had been started by her husband's great-grandfather in 1871.
  • a local tannery

Examples

  • When he grows up, he can take over the tannery.

  • The park area now called Liberty Lands was an abandoned tannery site and had previously been considered a toxic Superfund site by the EPA.

    Academic text (2002)
  • The water comes from the tannery down to the Springs.

  • At another point, he worked in his father's tannery.

  • The leather from that tannery is biodegradable.

  • They learned what leathers are used in the tannery and which animals they come from.

    Academic text (2007)
  • The waste runoff from the local tannery is contaminating the water, causing serious illness to the townspeople and tourists.

    Blog text (32)
  • Centuries later, the area was used for a Byzantine charnel house and, later, for a tannery, the lined masonry vats of which are still preserved.

    Academic text (2007)
  • Her wealthy father, Morten Kiil (Michael Siberry), is the owner of a tannery that has caused the pollution, further complicating matters.

    Blog text (7)
  • At another point, he worked in his father's tannery.

How Big

tannery
5 7.5
workshop
61 2.3

Surface Forms

tannery singular
Tanneries plural

Morphology

tannery = tan (transparent) = tan + ery

The noun is a standard place/industry formation from the verb 'tan' plus the suffix '-ery', so the meaning is directly derived and clear to learners.

Etymology

Tannery comes from the old word tan, which named the bark used to 'make leather' from animal skins. So a tannery is the place where people 'tan' skins and turn them into leather.