curtidor
/kuɾtiˈdoɾ/masculine
The Spanish word for tanner is curtidor.
curtidor refers to a person whose occupation is to tan.
Meaning: person whose occupation is to tan (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
To refer to a female tanner, use the feminine form curtidora.
How do you pronounce it?
/kuɾtiˈdoɾ/
Did you know?
- In certain Spanish-speaking culinary contexts, the term curtido refers to pickled vegetables. This creates a linguistic overlap where the same word describes both leather processing and food preservation.
- The verb curtir is also used metaphorically in Spanish to describe how life experiences or hardships make a person tougher or more resilient. Much like the leather becomes stronger through processing, a person becomes curtido by their trials.
- Historically, tanneries in Spanish colonial towns were often placed on the outskirts of the city because the curtidor used pungent organic materials that smelled strongly.
Examples in context
- Estoy bronceadoI am tanned.
- Pasé la semana en la playa y ahora estoy bronceado.I spent the week at the beach, and now I am tanned.
- El curtidor trabaja con pieles de animales.The tanner works with animal skins.
- Necesito hablar con el curtidor de este pueblo.I need to speak with the tanner of this town.
- Ese curtidor tiene mucha experiencia en su oficio.That tanner has a lot of experience in his trade.
Example conversation
Elena and Mateo are visiting a leather workshop.
- Elena¿Quién es el hombre de allí?Who is that man over there?
- MateoÉl es el curtidor de este taller.He is the tanner of this workshop.
- ElenaParece que sabe mucho de cuero.It seems he knows a lot about leather.
- MateoSí, es el mejor curtidor del pueblo.Yes, he is the best tanner in town.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “tanner” translations and entries curtidor, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
