Etymograph

English

shit

Shit comes from Middle English schit, from Old English *sċite ‘dung’, and ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skitiz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skitiz1reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skiti1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*sċite1‘dung’reconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schit1
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1979shit1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English shit
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1979, Robert Benton, Kramer vs. Kramer: “…I hate you back, you little shit!”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skitizWiktionary, English shitreconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skitiWiktionary, English shitreconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150*sċiteWiktionary, English shit‘dung’reconstructed
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schitWiktionary, English shit
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1979shitWiktionary, English shit. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1979, Robert Benton, Kramer vs. Kramer: “…I hate you back, you little shit!”

A compound of *sċite ‘dung’ + sċitte ‘diarrhoea’

Proto-Indo-European *sḱeyd- ‘to split, divide, separate’

Proto-Germanic *skīta-

Proto-West Germanic *skiti ‘excrement, feces’

Old English *sċite ‘dung’

Proto-Indo-European *skeyd- ‘to split, to divide’

Proto-Indo-European *skéydt ‘to cut off’

Proto-Germanic *skītaną ‘to shit’

Proto-Germanic *skitiz ‘excrement’

Proto-West Germanic *skiti ‘excrement, feces’

Proto-West Germanic *skittjā ‘excretion, defecation’

Old English sċitte ‘diarrhoea’

Every English word from Proto-Germanic *skitiz

Another origin of shit

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skeyd-‘to split, to divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*skéydt‘to cut off’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skītaną‘to defecate, to shit’reconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skītan‘to shit, defecate’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċītan‘to defecate, shit’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schiten‘to shit (defecate)’
  7. Englishtodayshit

Today it means

noun Usually solid excretory product evacuated from the bowels; feces.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *skitiz / shit

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