buskin

UK: /ˈbʌskɪn/ US: (bus′kin)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

bus•kin  (bus′kin), n. 

1. Clothing a thick-soled, laced boot or half boot.
2. Antiquity, Clothing, Show Business Also called cothurnus. the high, thick-soled shoe worn by ancient Greek and Roman tragedians.
3. Clothing buskins, stockings decorated with gold thread worn by a bishop at a Pontifical Mass.
4. Show Business tragic drama;
   tragedy. Cf. sock¹ (def. 3).
5. Show Business the art of acting, esp. tragic acting.
6. Clothing a woman's low-cut shoe with elastic gores at the sides of the instep, popular in the early 20th century.

• probably alteration of Middle French bro(u)sequin, of uncertain origin, originally 1495–1505

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

buskin / ˈbʌskɪn/ noun

1. (formerly) a sandal-like covering for the foot and leg, reaching the calf and usually laced
2. Also called: cothurnus a thick-soled laced half boot resembling this, worn esp by actors of ancient Greece
3. the buskin ⇒ tragic drama

Etymology: 16th Century: perhaps from Spanish borzeguí; related to Old French bouzequin, Italian borzacchino, of obscure origin