Word of the day: welt

The word of the day is welt:

1. a ridge or wale on the surface of the body, as from a blow of a stick or whip.
2. a blow producing such a ridge or wale.
3. Shoemaking.
   1. a strip, as of leather, set in between the outsole of a shoe and the edges of its insole and upper, through which these parts are joined by stitching or stapling.
   2. a strip, usually of leather, that ornaments a shoe.
4. a strengthening or ornamental finish along a seam, the edge of a garment, etc.
5. a seam in which one edge is cut close to the stitching line and covered by the other edge, which is stitched over it.

early 15c., a shoemaker's term, perhaps related to M.E. welten "to overturn, roll over" (c.1300), from O.N. velta "to roll" (related to welter (v.)). Meaning "ridge on the skin from a wound" is first recorded 1800.

"The wide expanse of water seems to merge into the sky without a welt."

 - Charles Mann, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus