Etymograph

English

schelm

Schelm comes from Dutch schelm ‘rogue, scoundrel, fiend’.

  1. Dutchc. 1500–presentschelm1‘rogue, scoundrel, fiend’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1822schelm1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English schelm
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1822, Walter Scott, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst: “Of her parents he knew nothing, except that "her…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Dutchc. 1500–presentschelmWiktionary, English schelm‘rogue, scoundrel, fiend’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1822schelmWiktionary, English schelm. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1822, Walter Scott, Edinburgh: […] Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst: “Of her parents he knew nothing, except that "her…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ‘to split, part, divide’

half, skill, skull, shield, shell, shale, shilling, shoal, halter, halve, schilling, hapa, shelve, 14 more

Today it means

noun A villain or scoundrel.

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

Etymograph / Dutch schelm / schelm

Shirt and support for this word