English
scuff
Scuff comes from Scots scuff ‘to touch lightly, graze, hit’.
- Scotsc. 1450–presentscuff‘to touch lightly, graze, hit’
- Englishearliest quotation 1895same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Scotsc. 1450–presentscuff‘to touch lightly, graze, hit’
- Englishearliest quotation 1895same form
Earliest quotation: 1895, Samuel Rutherford Crockett: “It was a dark, gloomy day, with black clouds…”
Every English word from Scots scuff
Today it means
verb To scrape the feet while walking.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Scots scuff / scuff