Etymograph

English

sheath

Sheath comes from Middle English sheth ‘holder for a sword, knife, etc., scabbard,…’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to dissect, split’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skey-‘to dissect, split’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skaiþizreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skaiþijureconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċēaþ
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sheth‘holder for a sword, knife, etc., scabbard, sheath’
  6. Englishtodaysheath

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skey-‘to dissect, split’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skaiþizreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skaiþijureconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċēaþ
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sheth‘holder for a sword, knife, etc., scabbard, sheath’
  6. Englishtodaysheath

The story

From Middle English sheth, shethe (‘holder for a sword, knife, etc., scabbard, sheath’) [and other forms], from Old English sċēaþ (‘sheath’), from Proto-West Germanic *skaiþiju, from Proto-Germanic *skaiþiz (‘sheath; covering’), from Proto-Indo-European *skey- (‘to dissect, split’) (possibly from the notion of a split stick with a sword inserted). The English word is cognate with Danish skede, Dutch schede, Icelandic skeið, German Scheide, Low German scheed, Norwegian skjede.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to dissect, split’

nice, science, equipment, scientific, ship, shift, skip, conscious, kyle, ski, shed, shin, squire, scuttle, prescient, skiff, chine, skein, scullery, shud, 44 more

through Proto-Germanic *skaiþiz

skeet, 1 more

Today it means

noun A holster for a sword; a scabbard.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *skey- / sheath

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