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Definition--any leather, with a soft napped surface on one side or any fabric made to resemble suede.

Discussion--Early on suede was synonymous with suede gloves. Our term suede comes the French form of suede gloves, gants de Suède.

These gloves were often made of kidskin (young goat) leather with a napped surface on the outside and were a special and delicate possession. The phrase to "handle with kid gloves" means to treat gently or carefully.

Today, suede is still a special fabric, but it can be found in items from cleaning cloths to furniture to purses, shoes, and jackets. And yes a nice pair of suede gloves is still a treasure.

Etymology--Suede comes from French for Sweden. Suede gloves were referred to in French as gants de Suède, or gloves of Sweden. The English form suede now refers to the fabric in general.

Most languages below show other roots for the general term.

Dutch:

suède (de)

French:

daim (m)

German:

Wildleder (nt)

Italian:

spelle scamosciata

Spanish:

ante, gamuza