Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A form of ornament or ornamental design which can be shown to be due originally to the nature of the material and the method of working it, or to technique. The forms and patterns originating in a certain technique may then be further modified or copied in other material.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek σκεῦος (skeuos, "vessel, implement") + μορφή (morphē, "form").

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Examples

  • A skeuomorph is a design feature copied from a similar artifact in another material.

    Week in Words Erin McKean 2011

  • The word "pre-roll" is what the magazine New Scientist called a "linguistic skeuomorph."

    Week in Words Erin McKean 2011

  • A number of people pointed out that this is an example of a skeuomorph, "a derivative object that retains ornamental design cues to a structure that was necessary in the original."

    Boing Boing Cory Doctorow 2012

Comments

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  • A design feature copied from a similar artifact in another material, even when not functionally necessary. For example, the click sound of a shutter in an analog camera that is now reproduced in a digital camera by playing a sound clip.

    A skeuomorph can be employed for various purposes. Since people are used to the click sound of a camera as feedback that the picture has been taken, it is now artificially-produced in digital cameras. Other examples are copper cladding on a zinc penny (for familiarity) and wood finish on a plastic product (for a more expensive look).

    A.Word.A.Day with Anu Garg

    An ornament or design on an object copied from a form of the object when made from another material or by other techniques, as an imitation metal rivet mark found on handles of prehistoric pottery.

    Dictionary.com

    October 7, 2008

  • JM looks around and recognises a host of skeuomorphs and wonders is it also a career goal?

    February 12, 2009