English
skill
Skill comes from Old Norse skil ‘a distinction, discernment, knowledge’, from Proto-Germanic *skilją ‘separation, limit’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ‘to split, cut’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kelH-‘to split’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skilją‘separation’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350skil‘a distinction’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500skill
- Englishearliest quotation 1590skill
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kelH-‘to split’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skilją‘separation’reconstructed
- Old Norsec. 800–1350skil‘a distinction’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500skill
- Englishearliest quotation 1590skill
Earliest quotation: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto I: “Him so I sought, and so at last I…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ‘to split, cut’
half, shield, shell, shale, skull, shoal, halter, shilling, halve, schilling, shelve, hapa, schelling, 14 more
Another origin of skill
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kelH-‘to split, cut’reconstructed
- Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skilōną‘to divide, limit’reconstructed
- Old Englishc. 450–1150scilian‘to separate, part, divide off’
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500skilen
- Englishtodayskill
Today it means
noun A capacity to do something well; a technique, an ability, usually acquired or learned, as opposed to abilities that are regarded as innate.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- / skill