Etymograph

English

shun

Shun comes from Middle English schonen ‘to decline to do, avoid, fear’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- ‘to cover, conceal, hide’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kewH-‘to cover, conceal, hide’root as named
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċunian‘to shun, fear, avoid’by way of Proto-Germanic *skunōną
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schonen‘to decline to do, avoid, fear’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2013shun

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kewH-‘to cover, conceal, hide’root as named
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċunian‘to shun, fear, avoid’by way of Proto-Germanic *skunōną
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schonen‘to decline to do, avoid, fear’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 2013shun

Earliest quotation: 2013, Lexington, Keeping the mighty honest: “British journalists shun complete respectability, feeling a duty to…”

The story

From Middle English schonen (‘to decline to do, avoid, fear’), from Old English sċunian (‘to shun, fear, avoid’), of uncertain origin, though probably ultimately connected to the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)kewH- (‘to cover, conceal’) via Proto-Germanic *skunōną; see that entry for more discussion.uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- ‘to cover, conceal, hide’

house, sky, hide, hose, scum, cystic, hutch, 10 more

Today it means

verb To avoid, especially persistently; ostracize.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewH- / shun

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