English
sheen
Sheen comes from Old English sċīene ‘beautiful, fair, bright, brilliant, light’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewh₁- ‘to perceive’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kewh₁-‘to perceive’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skauniz‘beautiful’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skaunī‘beautiful’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sċīene‘beautiful, fair, bright, brilliant, light’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shene
- Englishearliest quotation 1600sheen
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kewh₁-‘to perceive’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skauniz‘beautiful’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skaunī‘beautiful’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sċīene‘beautiful, fair, bright, brilliant, light’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shene
- Englishearliest quotation 1600sheen
Earliest quotation: 1600, Torquato Tasso, (please specify |book=1 to 20): “Up rose each warrier bold and brave, / Glistening…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewh₁- ‘to perceive’
show, cave, kudos, precaution, 14 more
through Proto-West Germanic *skaunī ‘beautiful’
Today it means
adj Beautiful, good-looking, attractive, fair; bright, radiant; shiny.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewh₁- / sheen