English
skull
Skull comes from Middle English sculle.
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sculle
- Englishearliest quotation 1850skull
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500sculle
- Englishearliest quotation 1850skull
Earliest quotation: 1850, [Alfred, Prologue: “Thine are these orbs of light and shade; Thou…”
The story
From Middle English sculle, scolle (also schulle, scholle), probably from a dialectal form of Old Norse skalli (‘bald head, skull’), itself probably related to Old English sċealu (‘husk’), to Proto-Norse *ᛋᚲᚨᛚᛟ (*skalo), from Proto-Germanic *skallô; compare Finnish kallo. Possibly related to Latin celsus (‘lofty, high, tall’), collis (‘hill’). Also related to Old Norse skǫllóttr, Icelandic sköllóttur, Old Swedish skallotter, Swedish skallig, Danish skaldet, Norwegian skallet (‘bald’).
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ‘to cut’
half, shield, shell, skill, shale, shilling, shoal, halter, halve, schilling, shelve, hapa, schelling, 14 more
through Middle English sculle
Today it means
noun The main bones of the head considered as a unit; including the cranium, facial bones, and mandible.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Middle English sculle / skull