skinship
/ˈskɪnʃɪp/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.47 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Bonding through physical (touch, skin-to-skin) contact; particularly between family members, relatives and loved ones.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "He explained that sufficient skinship in child-rearing prevents the occurrence of psychosis in Japan."
- "In Mexico, interdependence among people in emphasized and expressed through cosleeping and "skinship." … A similar type of "skinship" also exists throughout Mexico—all one had to do is look at the way people walk or sit together. … women are always patting touching ..."
- "However, there were times that folks needed that skinship to feel hearten'd and Dan often felt when others had that need."
- "This relationship of parents to children is especially enhanced by bathing together—commonly known as skinship (sukinshippu). Other groups, from businessmen or to neighboring housewives to hikers and classmates, often seek to increase the strength of a relationship by engaging in hadaka no tsukiai at a sentō, health center, or onsen."
Etymology
Phono-semantic matching of Japanese スキンシップ (sukinshippu), itself a wasei eigo (和製英語; pseudo-anglicism) derived from English skin + -ship, or as a blend from English skin + kinship. It is first recorded in English in 1966 according to the OED. In Japanese, this form was also observed in the Latin script as early as 1955.
Origin
- Source language: English