English
scud
Scud may come from Middle English scut ‘rabbit, rabbit's tail’.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scut‘rabbit, rabbit's tail’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1799scud
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scut‘rabbit, rabbit's tail’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1799scud
Earliest quotation: 1799, William Wordsworth, The Two-Part Prelude: “When scudding on from snare to snare I plied…”
first attested First attested in 1530 (as stated in the etymology)
The story
First attested in 1530, of unknown origin but perhaps from Middle English scut (‘rabbit, rabbit's tail’) or from Middle Dutch schudden (‘to shake’), ultimately of Scandinavian origin.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- ‘to advance, push’
Today it means
adj Naked.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English scut / scud