meaning
capa externa, p. e. pell, pellofa, closca, escorça; forma externa, frontera
semantic space · lipamanka
selo describes the outer layer of an object. It doesn't matter what the object is. For example, skin can be selo, and bark can be selo. This can get extended into the metaphorical. What are outer layers for? Usually, they protect that which is inside. Perhaps an attempt to ignore bigotry could be described as a selo. But in doing so, you're framing it as an outer layer of your mind. selo for "protect" has a different vibe when compared with awen's protect meaning. With awen, a protection is an act of maintaining, perhaps from afar with no risk to yourself, but with selo, protection always puts something at risk, be it the skin of an apple, the walls of a castle, or the case of a guitar.
selo don't always have to contain anything important, even though they usually do. Balloons are usually empty (save for air) and they can still be selo. In fact, a vaccum chamber's walls could be selo, even though they literally have nothing inside of the (save for "dark energy" or whatever don't @ me I'm not a physicist). As a verb, selo can mean "to surround fully," or "to become the outer layer of (something)." Some people use this for hugging, which is very fun.
ku translations
skin83, boundary65, surface60, outer50, peel50, shape44, layer42, edge40, outline40, external36, border32, frame30, margin29, shell27, barrier22, cover21, appearance17
pu verbatim
NOUN outer form, outer layer; bark, peel, shell, skin; boundary
usage
core · 99% usage
found in pu
coined pre-pu
origin
Esperanto · ŝelo ‘skin, peel’
German · schale ‘peel, husk, shell’
coined by jan Sonja
sitelen pona
selositelen sitelen
sitelen jelo
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sitelen Emosi
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ucsur
U+F1958