buskin

noun5

1. •
   (historical) A soft boot reaching to calf or knee height.

   • She, having hong upon a bough on high / Her bow and painted quiver, had unlaste / Her silver buskins from her nimble thigh […] — 1590
2. •
   (historical) A type of soft calf- or knee-high boot that laces up the front, sometimes featuring open toes or thick soles, worn in the Greco-Roman world by hunters and horsemen, as well as by actors in Athenian tragedy.
3. •
   Tragic drama; tragedy.

   • Such an undertaking by no means benefits the low-heeled buskin of modern fiction. — 1857
4. •
   A pontifical vestment in the form of a silk stocking, sometimes embroidered or interwoven with gold thread, reaching to the base of the knee and worn over one’s regular socks but under episcopal sandals.
5. •
   An instrument of torture for the foot; bootikin.