Etymograph

English

screed

Screed comes from Middle English schryden ‘fragment, scrap’, from Old English sċrȳdan ‘to clothe, to provide with clothes’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut off, sever’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to cut off, sever’root as named
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrūdą‘clothes, attire, dress’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrūdijaną‘to clothe, to dress, to adorn’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skrūdijan‘to clothe, to dress, to adorn’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċrȳdan‘to clothe, to provide with clothes’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schrydenas shrede‘fragment, scrap’
  7. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500screde
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1786screed

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to cut off, sever’root as named
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrūdą‘clothes, attire, dress’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrūdijaną‘to clothe, to dress, to adorn’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skrūdijan‘to clothe, to dress, to adorn’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċrȳdan‘to clothe, to provide with clothes’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schrydenas shrede‘fragment, scrap’
  7. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500screde
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1786screed

Earliest quotation: 1786, Robert Burns, To W. S*****n, Ochiltree. May—1785: “Yet when a tale comes i' my head, /…”

The story

The English word is cognate with Old Frisian skrēd.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut off, sever’

short, card, across, share, cancer, cross, shirt, circle, circuit, score, curve, crucial, circus, circulation, skirt, carnival, curb, cancellation, shrine, circa, scare, scar, corona, shear, incarceration, scrutiny, carnage, raffle, circulate, scorpion, carcinoma, corolla, crest, shard, carnal, cirque, riddance, circulatory, shrewd, scorn, 119 more

through Proto-Germanic *skrūdą ‘clothes, attire, dress’

shroud

Another origin of screed

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrūdą‘clothes, attire, dress’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrūdijaną‘to clothe, to dress, to adorn’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skrūdijan‘to clothe, to dress, to adorn’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċrȳdan‘to clothe, to provide with clothes’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schrydenas shrede‘to chop, cut up, hack’
  6. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500screda
  7. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500screde
  8. Englishtodayscreed

Today it means

noun A piece of writing (such as an article, letter, or list) or a speech, especially if long.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- / screed

Shirt and support for this word