English
shale
Shale comes from Middle English schale ‘shell, husk’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ‘to split, cut’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kelH-‘to split, cut’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skalō‘shell, husk’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skalu‘shell, husk’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sċealu‘shell, husk, pod’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schale‘shell, husk’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1610sshale
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kelH-‘to split, cut’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skalō‘shell, husk’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skalu‘shell, husk’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sċealu‘shell, husk, pod’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schale‘shell, husk’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1610sshale
Earliest quotation: c. 1610s, Homer, The Crowne of all Homers Workes: Batrachomyomachia: “the green shales of a bean”.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ‘to split, cut’
half, skill, skull, shell, shield, shilling, schilling, shoal, halter, schelling, shelve, halve, hapa, 14 more
through Proto-Germanic *skalō ‘shell, husk’
Today it means
noun A shell, scale or husk; a cod or pod.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- / shale