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==Terminology==
Modern scholars and experts often prefer to use the broader term ''membrane'', which avoids the need to draw a distinction between vellum and parchment, as it is very hard to determine the type of animal involved, let alone its age, without detailed scientific analysis.<ref>{{cite book |last=Cains |first=Anthony |title=The Book of Kells: proceedings of a conference at Trinity College Dublin, 6–9 September 1992 |publisher=Scolar Press |year=1994 |isbn=0-85967-967-5 |editor-last=O'Mahony |editor-first=Felicity |place=Aldershot |pages=172–174 |chapter=The surface examination of skin: a binder's note on the identification of animal species used in the making of parchment}}</ref><ref name="esdaile" /><ref name="ClemensGraham">{{cite book |last1=Clemens |first1=Raymond |title=Introduction to Manuscript Studies |last2=Graham |first2=Timothy |publisher=Cornell University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-8014-3863-9 |place=Ithaca}}</ref>{{rp|pp=9–10}}[[File:Qur'anic Manuscript - 3 - Hijazi script.jpg|thumb|[[Quran]] from the [[7th century]] written on vellum]]
Though [[Christopher de Hamel]], an expert on medieval manuscripts, writes that "for most purposes the words parchment and vellum are interchangeable",<ref>[[Christopher de Hamel]], ''[[Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts: Twelve Journeys into the Medieval World]]'', London, Allen Lane, 2016, Introduction, ({{ISBN|978-0241003046}}), [https://books.google.com/books?id=w93ACwAAQBAJ google books]</ref> a number of distinctions have been made in the past and present.

The word ''vellum'' is borrowed from [[Old French]] ''vélin'' 'calfskin', derived in turn from the [[Latin]] word ''vitulinum'' 'made from calf'.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=vellum |title=vellum |dictionary=Online Etymological Dictionary |access-date=2014-08-09}}</ref> However, in Europe, from Roman times, the word was used for the best quality of prepared skin, regardless of the animal from which the hide was obtained. [[calfskin|Calf]], [[sheepskin (material)|sheep]], and [[kidskin|goat]] were all commonly used, and other animals, including pig, deer, donkey, horse, or camel, were used on occasion. The best quality, "uterine vellum",<ref>{{cite book |last1=Houston |first1=Keith |title=The Book: A Cover-to-Cover Exploration of the Most Powerful Object of Our Time |date=2016 |publisher=[[W.W. Norton & Company]] |isbn=978-0-393-24479-3 |url=https://blog.longreads.com/2016/12/01/hidebound-the-grisly-invention-of-parchment/ |access-date=2 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161202124352/https://blog.longreads.com/2016/12/01/hidebound-the-grisly-invention-of-parchment/ |archive-date=2016-12-02 |url-status=live}}</ref> was said to be made from the skins of [[stillbirth|stillborn]] or unborn animals, although the term was also applied to fine quality skins made from young animals.<ref name="esdaile"/> However, there has long been much blurring of the boundaries between these terms. In 1519, [[William Horman]] could write in his ''Vulgaria'': "That stouffe that we wrytte upon, and is made of beestis skynnes, is somtyme called parchement, somtyme velem, somtyme abortyve, somtyme membraan."<ref>William Horman, ''Vulgaria'' (1519), fol. 80v; cited in Ustick 1936, p. 440.</ref> Writing in 1936, Lee Ustick explained that:

{{blockquote|To-day the distinction, among collectors of manuscripts, is that ''vellum'' is a highly refined form of skin, ''parchment'' a cruder form, usually thick, harsh, less highly polished than vellum, but with no distinction between skin of calf, or sheep, or of goat.<ref>Ustick 1936, p. 440.</ref>|sign=|source=}}

French sources, closer to the original etymology, tend to define ''velin'' as from calf only, while the [[British Standards Institution]] defines parchment as made from the split skin of several species, and vellum from the unsplit skin.<ref>Young, Laura, A., ''Bookbinding & conservation by hand: a working guide'', Oak Knoll Press, 1995, {{ISBN|978-1-884718-11-3}}, [https://books.google.com/books?id=G7tUPQdT2hcC&dq=sheep+vellum&pg=PA29 Google books] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170118132433/https://books.google.com/books?id=G7tUPQdT2hcC&pg=PA29&lpg=PA29&dq=sheep+vellum&source=bl&ots=Op-7E6tE48&sig=jX7CogBbfQLEvoXSj1Xz2R5xCRg&hl=en&ei=hfyOSvfFFc2hjAfb17n8DQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=9#v=onepage&q=sheep%20vellum&f=false |date=2017-01-18}}</ref> In the usage of modern practitioners of the artistic crafts of writing, illuminating, lettering, and bookbinding, ''vellum'' is normally reserved for calfskin, while any other skin is called ''parchment''.<ref>[[Edward Johnston|Johnston, E.]] (1906 et seq.) ''Writing, Illuminating, and Lettering''; Lamb, C.M. (ed.)(1956) ''The Calligrapher's Handbook''; and publications of [[Society of Scribes & Illuminators]]</ref>