means The flexible outer covering of the body, or by extension the outer layer or surface of anything from fruit to drums to interfaces.

from From Old Norse 'skinn,' meaning hide or pelt — the word brought over by Norse settlers, originally describing the flayed covering of an animal. It gradually pushed aside the older native English word 'hide,' which survives but now leans toward animals and toughness. The animal-pelt sense lingers in expressions like 'saving your skin' and 'by the skin of your teeth.'