Etymograph

English

shut

Shut comes from Old English sċyttan ‘to shoot a bolt, shut’, from Proto-Germanic *skutjaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- ‘to drive’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kewd-‘to drive’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skuttąreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skutjanąreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skuttjan‘to shut’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċyttan‘to cause rapid movement’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schitten‘to bring something into a closed position’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1667shut

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kewd-‘to drive’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skuttąreconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanic, derivedc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skutjanąreconstructed
  4. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skuttjan‘to shut’reconstructed
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċyttan‘to cause rapid movement’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schitten‘to bring something into a closed position’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1667shut

Earliest quotation: 1667, John Milton, Book VIII: “Just then returnd at ſhut of Evening Flours.”

The story

The Modern English word was originally a dialect form; the Old English word would have normally merged with shit.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- ‘to drive, fall upon, rush’

sheet, scoot, scud, 2 more

Today it means

verb To remove or block an opening, gap or passage through.

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

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)kewd- / shut

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