Etymograph

English

scrub

Scrub comes from Old English scrybb ‘underbrush’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerb- ‘to be sharp’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kerb-‘to be sharp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrubbijōreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skrubbijureconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150scrybb‘underbrush’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shrobbe
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1678scrub

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kerb-‘to be sharp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrubbijōreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skrubbijureconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150scrybb‘underbrush’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shrobbe
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1678scrub

Earliest quotation: 1678, John Bunyan: “A sorry scrub, said Mr. High-mind.”

The story

Late Middle English shrobbe in the sense of "stunted tree," a variant of shrub, from Old English scrybb.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerb- ‘to be sharp’

sharp, 5 more

Another origin of scrub

  1. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500schrobben‘clean by scrubbing’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scrobben‘groom a horse with a currycomb’
  3. Englishtodayscrub

Today it means

adj Mean; dirty; contemptible; scrubby.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerb- / scrub

Shirt and support for this word