English
shaft
Shaft comes from Old English sċeaft ‘shaft, pole’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *skeh₂p-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skeh₂p-‘club, rod, shaft, staff’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skaftazreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skaftreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sċeaft‘shaft, pole’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chafte
- Englishearliest quotation 1545shaft
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skeh₂p-‘club, rod, shaft, staff’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skaftazreconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skaftreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sċeaft‘shaft, pole’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500chafte
- Englishearliest quotation 1545shaft
Earliest quotation: 1545, Roger Ascham: “A shaft hath three principal parts, the stele, the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *skeh₂p- ‘club, rod, shaft, staff’
Today it means
noun The entire body of a long weapon, such as an arrow.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *skeh₂p- / shaft