English
shift
Shift comes from Old English sċiftan ‘to divide, separate into shares’, from Proto-Germanic *skiftijaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to cut’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skey-‘to cut’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*skeyb-‘to separate’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skipatjaną‘to organise, put in order’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skiftijaną‘to divide’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skiftijanreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sċiftan‘to divide’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schiften‘to split’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592shift
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skey-‘to cut’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*skeyb-‘to separate’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skipatjaną‘to organise, put in order’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skiftijaną‘to divide’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skiftijanreconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sċiftan‘to divide’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schiften‘to split’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592shift
Earliest quotation: c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew: “And if the boy have not a woman's gift…”
The story
The noun is from Middle English schyft, shyffte.
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to cut, divide, separate, part’
nice, science, equipment, scientific, ship, skip, conscious, kyle, ski, shed, squire, shin, sheath, skeet, scuttle, prescient, skein, skiff, chine, scullery, shud, 44 more
Today it means
noun A movement to do something, a beginning.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *skey- / shift