English
scurf
Scurf comes from Proto-Germanic *skurf- ‘to gnaw’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut off, sever’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to cut off, sever’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skurf-‘to gnaw’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150scurf
- Englishearliest quotation 1667same form
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to cut off, sever’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skurf-‘to gnaw’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150scurf
- Englishearliest quotation 1667same form
Earliest quotation: 1667, John Milton, Book I: “There ſtood a Hill not far whoſe frieſly top…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut off, sever’
short, across, share, card, cross, cancer, shirt, screen, circle, score, crucial, circuit, skirt, carnival, circulation, scare, cancellation, shrine, circus, crest, circa, curve, scrutiny, scar, corona, shear, incarceration, shred, carnage, raffle, scorpion, carcinoma, corolla, shrewd, curb, crux, shard, carnal, circulate, cirque, 119 more
Today it means
noun A skin disease.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- / scurf