English
skid
Skid comes from Old Norse skíð ‘a billet of wood, a beam or plank on which…’, from Proto-Germanic *skīdą ‘log, clapboard’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skey-t- ‘to split, divide, separate’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skey-t-‘to split, divide, separate’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skīdą‘log, clapboard’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350skíð‘a billet of wood, a beam or plank on which something rests’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*skidreconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1859skid
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skey-t-‘to split, divide, separate’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skīdą‘log, clapboard’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350skíð‘a billet of wood, a beam or plank on which something rests’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*skidreconstructed
- Englishearliest quotation 1859skid
Earliest quotation: 1859, Charles Dickens, The Mail: “The horses stopped to breathe again, and the guard…”
Linked words
through Proto-Germanic *skīdą ‘log, clapboard’
through Old Norse skíð ‘a billet of wood, a beam or plank on which…’
Today it means
noun An out-of-control sliding motion as would result from applying the brakes too hard in a car or other vehicle.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *skey-t- / skid