from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Shagreen \Sha*green"\, n. [F. chagrin, It. zigrino, fr. Turk.
saghri the back of a horse or other beast of burden,
shagreen. Cf. {Chagrin}.]
1. A kind of untanned leather prepared in Russia and the
East, from the skins of horses, asses, and camels, and
grained so as to be covered with small round granulations.
This characteristic surface is produced by pressing small
seeds into the grain or hair side when moist, and
afterward, when dry, scraping off the roughness left
between them, and then, by soaking, causing the portions
of the skin which had been compressed or indented by the
seeds to swell up into relief. It is used for covering
small cases and boxes.
[1913 Webster]
2. The skin of various small sharks and other fishes when
having small, rough, bony scales. The dogfishes of the
genus {Scyllium} furnish a large part of that used in the
arts.
[1913 Webster] Shagreen