English
sheeny
Sheeny may come from Yiddish שיין ‘beautiful, nice’.
- Yiddishmodernשייןsheyn‘beautiful, nice’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1825sheeny
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Yiddishmodernשייןsheyn‘beautiful, nice’uncertain
- Englishearliest quotation 1825sheeny
Earliest quotation: 1825, /6, Charles Molloy Westmacott: “May I never get groggy, if I shall ever…”
The story
Seems to have originated in 1820s London. Could be a mockery of Yiddish שיין (sheyn, “beautiful, nice”), much used in praising wares.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewh₁- ‘to perceive, pay attention’
show, cave, kudos, precaution, 14 more
through Proto-West Germanic *skaunī ‘beautiful’
Today it means
noun A Jew.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Yiddish שיין / sheeny