1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Buskin

BUSKIN (a word of uncertain origin, existing in many European languages, as Fr. brousequin, Ital. borzacchino, Dutch brozeken, and Span, borceguí), a half-boot or high shoe strapped under the ankle, and protecting the shins; especially the thick-soled boot or cothurnus in the ancient Athenian tragedy, used to increase the stature of the actors, as opposed to the soccus, “sock,” the light shoe of comedy. The term is thus often used figuratively of a tragic style.