Etymograph

English

scab

Scab comes from Proto-Germanic *skabbaz ‘scab, scabies’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- ‘to cut, split, carve, shape’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skabʰ-‘to cut, split, carve, shape’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skabbaz‘scab, scabies’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skabbreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċeabb
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scabb
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1601–1602scab

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skabʰ-‘to cut, split, carve, shape’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skabbaz‘scab, scabies’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skabbreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċeabb
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scabb
  6. Englishearliest quotation c. 1601–1602scab

Earliest quotation: c. 1601–1602, William Shakespeare, Twelfth Night: “Out, scab!”

The story

Related also to Old English scafan (‘to scrape, shave’), Latin scabere (‘to scratch’), English shabby.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- ‘to cut, split, carve, shape’

shave, shambles, 13 more

Today it means

noun An incrustation over a sore, wound, vesicle, or pustule, formed during healing.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- / scab

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