English
skerry
Skerry comes from Old Norse sker ‘rock in the sea, skerry’, and goes back to 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*skarjąreconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350sker‘rock in the sea, skerry’
- Englishearliest quotation 1805skerry
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*skarjąreconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350sker‘rock in the sea, skerry’
- Englishearliest quotation 1805skerry
Earliest quotation: 1805, George Barry, History of the Orkney Islands: “The Seal (phoca vitulina, Lin. Syft.) which is here…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut off, sever’
short, across, share, card, cross, screen, score, cancer, shirt, circle, circuit, crucial, curve, scare, circus, circulation, carnival, curb, cancellation, scrutiny, shrine, skirt, scarf, crest, circa, corona, shear, scorpion, shred, carnage, incarceration, raffle, circulate, carcinoma, corolla, scorn, shrewd, crux, shard, carnal, 118 more
through Old Norse sker ‘rock in the sea, skerry’
Today it means
noun A small rocky island which may be covered by the sea at high tide or during storms.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- / skerry