English
scuttle
Scuttle comes from Latin scutella ‘a small or shallow bowl, basin or dish’, and goes back to scutra.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscutra‘flat tray, dish’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEscutella‘a small or shallow bowl, basin or dish’diminutive form of scutra
- Old Englishc. 450–1150scutel‘dish, platter’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scuttel
- Englishearliest quotation 1852scuttle
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscutra‘flat tray, dish’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEscutella‘a small or shallow bowl, basin or dish’diminutive form of scutra
- Old Englishc. 450–1150scutel‘dish, platter’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scuttel
- Englishearliest quotation 1852scuttle
Earliest quotation: 1852, – 1853 September, Charles Dickens: “All through dinner—which was long, in consequence of such…”
The story
From Middle English scuttel, scutel, from Old English scutel (‘dish, platter’), from Latin scutella, diminutive form of Latin scutra (‘flat tray, dish’), perhaps related to Latin scutum (‘shield’); compare Dutch schotel and German Schüssel.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to cut, split’
nice, ship, science, equipment, shift, scientific, shed, skip, ski, conscious, kyle, shin, sheath, skeet, skiff, chine, prescient, skein, shud, 44 more
through Latin scūtum ‘shield’
through Latin scutella ‘a small or shallow bowl, basin or dish’
Another origin of scuttle
- Old Norsec. 800–1350skaut‘corner of a cloth, of a sail’uncertain
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600escoutille
- Englishtodayscuttle
Borrowed from Middle French escoutille (compare French écoutille), from Old Norse skaut (‘corner of a cloth, of a sail’), or alternatively from Spanish escotilla, ultimately from Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌿𐍄𐍃 (skauts, “projecting edge, fringe”), from Proto-Germanic *skautaz (‘corner; wedge; lap’).disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.
Today it means
noun A container like an open bucket (usually to hold and carry coal).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Latin scutra / scuttle