English
skeleton
Skeleton comes from Ancient Greek σκελετός ‘dried up, withered, dried body, parched, mummy’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelh₁-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kelh₁-‘to parch, wither’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*skélh₁yetireconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκέλλωskéllō‘dry, dry up, make dry, parch’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEσκελετόςskeletós‘dried up, withered, dried body, parched, mummy’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEσκελετόνskeletónneuter of σκελετός
- New Latinc. 1500–1900sceleton
- Englishearliest quotation 1724skeleton
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kelh₁-‘to parch, wither’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*skélh₁yetireconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκέλλωskéllō‘dry, dry up, make dry, parch’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEσκελετόςskeletós‘dried up, withered, dried body, parched, mummy’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEσκελετόνskeletónneuter of σκελετός
- New Latinc. 1500–1900sceleton
- Englishearliest quotation 1724skeleton
Earliest quotation: 1724, Charles Johnson pseudonym, Of Captain Spriggs and His Crew: “A Day or two after they parted, [Francis] Spriggs…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelh₁- ‘to parch, wither’
Another origin of skeleton
- Norwegianmodernkjaelkedisputed
- Englishtodayskeleton
The etymology of the term is disputed between two versions.disputed Scholars disagree here; the competing view is quoted as the source gives it.
Today it means
noun The system that provides support to an organism, where in vertebrates it is internal and consists of bones and cartilage, and external in some other animals.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelh₁- / skeleton