Etymograph

English

screen

Screen comes from Anglo-Norman escren ‘firescreen’, from Middle Dutch scherm, from Proto-Germanic *skirmiz ‘shelter, covering’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut off’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to cut off, sever’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skirmiz‘fur, shelter, covering, screen’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skirmireconstructed
  4. Old Dutchc. 500–1150skirm
  5. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500scherm
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400escren‘firescreen’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scren
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606screen

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to cut off, sever’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skirmiz‘fur, shelter, covering, screen’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skirmireconstructed
  4. Old Dutchc. 500–1150skirm
  5. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500scherm
  6. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400escren‘firescreen’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scren
  8. Englishearliest quotation c. 1606screen

Earliest quotation: c. 1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Macbeth: “Your leavy screens throw down.”

The story

An alternative etymology derives Old French escren, escran from Old Dutch *scranc (‘barrier’) (compare Middle Dutch schranc, schranke (‘palisade, trellis, grid’), German Schrank (‘cupboard, cabinet’), German Schranke (‘fence’)), from Proto-West Germanic *skrank, from Proto-Germanic *skrankaz.

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, shred, shard, carnal, cirque, riddance, circulatory, shrewd, 119 more

Today it means

noun A physical divider intended to block an area from view, or provide shelter from something dangerous.

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

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

Shirt and support for this word