English
shrewdness
Shrewdness comes from Middle English schrewednesse ‘Evil, perversion’, from schrewed ‘Demonic, wicked’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut off, sever’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to cut off, sever’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrawwaz‘a malevolent creature or spirit’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skrauwō‘a malicious or malevolent creature’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sċrēawa‘shrew’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schrewe‘scoundrel’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500schrewed‘Demonic, wicked’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500schrewednesse‘Evil, perversion’
- Englishearliest quotation 1837shrewdness
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-‘to cut off, sever’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrawwaz‘a malevolent creature or spirit’reconstructed
- Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skrauwō‘a malicious or malevolent creature’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150sċrēawa‘shrew’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schrewe‘scoundrel’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500schrewed‘Demonic, wicked’
- Middle English, derivedc. 1150–1500schrewednesse‘Evil, perversion’
- Englishearliest quotation 1837shrewdness
Earliest quotation: 1837, Letitia Elizabeth Landon, The Interview: “A man with less worldly shrewdness would never have…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut off, sever’
short, across, card, cancer, share, cross, screen, score, circle, circuit, shirt, crucial, curve, circus, circulation, skirt, scare, carnival, curb, scar, cancellation, scrutiny, circa, corona, scorpion, incarceration, carnage, crest, shrine, shear, raffle, circulate, carcinoma, corolla, scorn, crux, carnal, cirque, riddance, circulatory, 119 more
Today it means
noun The quality of being shrewd.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- / shrewdness