English
shoot
Shoot comes from Old English scēotan ‘to shoot’, from Proto-Germanic *skeutaną ‘to shoot’, whose deeper origin is uncertain.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skeutaną‘to shoot, dash’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skeutan‘to shoot’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150scēotan‘to shoot’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scheten
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598shoot
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skeutaną‘to shoot, dash’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skeutan‘to shoot’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150scēotan‘to shoot’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scheten
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1596–1598shoot
Earliest quotation: c. 1596–1598, William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice: “If you please / To shoot an arrow that…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kéwd-e-ti
through Proto-Germanic *skeutaną ‘to shoot, dash’
Today it means
verb To fire (a weapon that releases a bullet or other projectile).
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *skeutaną / shoot