Skincare

How to spell skincare

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce skincare

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does skincare mean?

1. nounThe practice of looking after the skin, or the products used to do so.

Skincare in a sentence

• Her morning skincare routine takes only five minutes.

• The pharmacy has expanded its skincare aisle considerably.

Where does skincare come from?

Language of origin: Old Norse

This is a modern English compound, joining two very old native words. 'Skin' came into English from the Old Norse skinn, the word for the hide or pelt of an animal, brought over by Norse settlers and gradually replacing the older Old English term hyd, which survives as 'hide'. 'Care' descends from the Old English caru, which originally carried the heavier sense of 'sorrow, anxiety, or burden' before softening over the centuries into the modern idea of attention and looking after. The compound itself is recent, emerging in the twentieth century as the cosmetics and beauty industries grew, and it became common only as marketing language for products meant to clean and protect the skin. Because both halves are simple and familiar, the only real spelling question is whether to write it as one word, two words, or with a hyphen; the solid one-word form is now standard.

How the word is built

• skin (outer covering of the body, from Old Norse skinn)
• care (attention or treatment, from Old English caru)