English
scorpion
Scorpion comes from Latin scorpiō ‘a scorpion’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to cut’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκορπῐ́οςskorpĭ́os
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscorpiō‘a scorpion’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sċorpio
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scorpioun‘a scorpion or a creature like one’
- Englishearliest quotation 1611scorpion
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to cut’reconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκορπῐ́οςskorpĭ́os
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscorpiō‘a scorpion’
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sċorpio
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scorpioun‘a scorpion or a creature like one’
- Englishearliest quotation 1611scorpion
Earliest quotation: 1611, The Holy Bible, London: […] Robert Barker: “Who led thee through that great and terrible wildernesse,…”
The story
The cheerleading move is so called because of the resemblance of the raised foot to a scorpion's stinger.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut’
across, share, short, card, cross, cancer, screen, shirt, circle, circuit, crucial, score, curve, circus, skirt, carnival, scare, curb, shrine, circulation, crest, circa, scrutiny, scar, cancellation, shear, shred, carnage, raffle, circulate, carcinoma, shrewd, incarceration, crux, shard, carnal, cirque, riddance, coronary, crepe, 119 more
Today it means
noun Any of the order Scorpiones of arachnids related to spiders, characterised by two large front pincers and a curved tail with a venomous sting at the end.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- / scorpion