Etymograph

English

scoot

Scoot may come from Old Norse skjóta ‘to shoot’.

  1. Old Norsec. 800–1350skjóta‘to shoot’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1930scoot

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Old Norsec. 800–1350skjóta‘to shoot’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1930scoot

Earliest quotation: 1930, Frank Richards: “He scooted us out of the study and turned…”

The story

Perhaps from Old Norse skjóta (‘to shoot’), or perhaps related to Middle English scottlynge (“moving one's feet quickly, scampering”, literally “scuttling”), see scuddle, scuttle.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- ‘to advance, push’

shut, sheet, scud, 2 more

through Proto-Germanic *skeutaną ‘to shoot, dash’

shoot, 1 more

Today it means

noun A swift movement or trip

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

Etymograph / Old Norse skjóta / scoot

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