English
shore
Shore comes from Proto-Germanic *skurô ‘rugged rock, cliff, high rocky shore’.
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skurô‘rugged rock, cliff, high rocky shore’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*sċorareconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schore
- Englishearliest quotation 1589shore
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skurô‘rugged rock, cliff, high rocky shore’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150*sċorareconstructed
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schore
- Englishearliest quotation 1589shore
Earliest quotation: 1589, Richard Hakluyt, The Principall Navigations: “the ship quickened her way, and shot past that…”
The story
From Middle English schore, from Old English *sċora (attested as sċor- in placenames), from Proto-Germanic *skurô (‘rugged rock, cliff, high rocky shore’). Possibly related to Old English sċieran (‘to cut’), which survives today as English shear. Maybe connected with Norwegian Bokmål skjær.
Every English word from Proto-Germanic *skurô
Another origin of shore
- Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500schore
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shore‘a prop, a support’
- Englishtodaysame form
From Late Middle English shore (‘a prop, a support’) [and other forms], from Middle Dutch schore, schare (‘a prop, a stay’) (modern Dutch schoor), and Middle Low German schōre, schāre (‘a prop, a stay; barrier; stockade’) (compare Old Norse skorða (‘a prop, a stay’) (Norwegian skor, skorda)); further etymology unknown.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.
Another origin of shore
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shore‘a prop, a support’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500shoren‘to prop, to support’
- Englishtodayshore
Today it means
noun Land adjoining a non-flowing body of water, such as an ocean, lake or pond.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Germanic *skurô / shore