English
shoulder
Shoulder comes from Middle English schuldre ‘the shoulder’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *skuldru.
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skuldrureconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sċuldra
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schuldre‘the shoulder’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590shoulder
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skuldrureconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sċuldra
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schuldre‘the shoulder’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590shoulder
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto XI: “[…]As they the earth would ſhoulder from her ſeat,[…]”
The story
Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skelduz (‘shield’), see shield.
Every English word from Proto-West Germanic *skuldru
Today it means
noun The part of the human torso forming a relatively horizontal surface running away from the neck.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-West Germanic *skuldru / shoulder