English
kilt
Kilt comes from Middle English kilten ‘to tuck up, gird’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500kilten‘to tuck up, gird’
- Englishearliest quotation 1897kilt
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500kilten‘to tuck up, gird’
- Englishearliest quotation 1897kilt
Earliest quotation: 1897, Winston Churchill: “I was about to say that I had known…”
Every English word from Middle English kilten
Today it means
verb To gather up (skirts) around the body.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English kilten / kilt