Etymograph

English

escrow

Escrow comes from Old French escroe ‘register, note’, from Frankish *skrōda ‘piece’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skrówdʰ-e-ti.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skrówdʰ-e-tireconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skraudaną‘to shred’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skraudō‘piece, shred’reconstructedderivative of *skraudaną
  4. Frankishc. 250–700*skrōda‘piece’reconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400escroe‘register, note’
  6. Law Frenchmodernescrowe
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1987escrow

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skrówdʰ-e-tireconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skraudaną‘to shred’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skraudō‘piece, shred’reconstructedderivative of *skraudaną
  4. Frankishc. 250–700*skrōda‘piece’reconstructed
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400escroe‘register, note’
  6. Law Frenchmodernescrowe
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1987escrow

Earliest quotation: 1987, Setting the Record Strai..., um, Out in the Open: “GCN staffers wrote and called our landlords, complaining about…”

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *skraudō ‘piece, shred’

shred, 1 more

Today it means

noun A contractual arrangement whereby money or assets are held in trust by an independent agent by the agreement of the parties, which can only be released to the relevant party once certain contractual conditions have been fulfilled.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *skrówdʰ-e-ti / escrow

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