Etymograph

English

Shellsort

From Shell + sort, after Douglas Shell, who published the first version in 1959.

A compound of Shell + sort

Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ‘to cut, split’

Proto-Germanic *skaljō ‘shell, husk’

Proto-West Germanic *skallju

Old English sċiell

Middle English schelle

English Shell

Proto-Indo-European *ser- ‘to bind’

…

Latin sors ‘lot’

Latin sortem

Old French sorte ‘class’

Middle English sort

English sort

Today it means

noun A sorting algorithm that starts by sorting pairs of elements that are far apart from each other, then progressively reduces the gap between elements to be compared.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Shellsort

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