Etymograph

English

shreward

Shreward comes from Middle English schreward ‘a scoundrel or malefactor’, from Old English sċrēawa ‘shrew’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut off, sever’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to cut off, sever’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrawwaz‘a malevolent creature or spirit’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skrauwō‘a malicious or malevolent creature’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċrēawa‘shrew’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schrewe‘scoundrel’
  6. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500schreward‘a scoundrel or malefactor’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1882shreward

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to cut off, sever’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrawwaz‘a malevolent creature or spirit’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skrauwō‘a malicious or malevolent creature’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċrēawa‘shrew’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schrewe‘scoundrel’
  6. Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500schreward‘a scoundrel or malefactor’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1882shreward

Earliest quotation: 1882, Edwin Guest, A history of English rhythms: “Good principles and fair manners, Them to teach to…”

Linked words

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

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

Today it means

noun A rascal; a scoundrel.

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

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

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