Etymograph

English

shred

Shred comes from Old English sċrēad ‘piece cut off from something’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to cut off’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skraudō‘a piece, shred’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċrēad‘piece cut off from something’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shrede
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1593shred

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to cut off’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skraudō‘a piece, shred’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċrēad‘piece cut off from something’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shrede
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1593shred

Earliest quotation: 1593, Gabriell Haruey [i.e., Gabriel Harvey]: “His gayeſt flooriſhes are but Gaſcoignes Weedes, or Tarletons…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut off’

across, card, short, cross, cancer, share, screen, circle, score, circuit, shirt, crucial, curve, circus, circulation, skirt, carnival, curb, scare, scar, cancellation, scrutiny, circa, corona, scorpion, incarceration, crest, carnage, shrine, raffle, circulate, carcinoma, corolla, scorn, shear, crux, carnal, cirque, riddance, circulatory, 119 more

through Proto-Germanic *skraudō ‘a piece, shred’

escrow, 1 more

Another origin of shred

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skraudōnreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċrēadian‘to cut up, shred’
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shreden
  4. Englishtodayshred

The verb is derived from Middle English shreden, shred (‘to chop, cut up; to cut, hack; to wound with a knife; to cut off a part of (something); to prune, trim’) [and other forms], from Old English sċrēadian (‘to cut up, shred; to cut off; to prune, trim’), from Proto-West Germanic *skraudōn, related to Proto-West Germanic *skraudan (‘to cut up; to shred’), from Proto-Germanic *skraudaną (‘to cut up; to shred’), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (‘to cut off’). The adjective is derived from the past participle form of the verb.

Today it means

noun A fragment of something; a particle; a piece; also, a very small amount.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- / shred

Shirt and support for this word