English
scabrous
Scabrous comes from Latin scaber ‘scabrous, rough’, from scabō ‘to scratch, scrape, abrade’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skabʰ-‘to scratch’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscabō‘to scratch, scrape, abrade’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEscaber‘scabrous, rough’
- Englishearliest quotation 1693scabrous
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skabʰ-‘to scratch’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscabō‘to scratch, scrape, abrade’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEscaber‘scabrous, rough’
- Englishearliest quotation 1693scabrous
Earliest quotation: 1693, John Dryden, The Dedication: “[A]s his Verse is ſcabrous, and hobbling, and his…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- ‘to scratch’
through Latin scabō ‘to scratch, scrape, abrade’
Today it means
adj Covered with scales or scabs; hence, very coarse or rough.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- / scabrous