英语词源字典 - 在线词源网站

skittish (adj.)[skittish 词源字典]: early 15c., "very lively, frivolous," perhaps from Scandinavian base *skyt- (stem of Old Norse skjota "to shoot, launch, move quickly"), from PIE root *skeud- "to shoot, to chase, to throw, to project" (see shoot (v.)). Sense of "shy, nervous, apt to run" first recorded c. 1500, of horses. Related: Skittishly; skittishness.[skittish etymology, skittish origin, 英语词源]
skittles (n.): game played with nine pins, 1630s, plural of skittle, the word for the pins used in the game, probably from a Scandinavian source (compare Danish and Norwegian skyttel "shuttle, child's toy"). But OED says there is no evidence of a connection.
skive (v.1): "split or cut into strips, pare off, grind away," 1825, from a Scandinavian source such as Old Norse skifa "to cut, split," from Proto-Germanic *skif-, from Proto-Indo-European *skei- "to cut, split" (see shed (v.)). Related: Skived; skiving.
skive (v.2): "evade duty," usually with off, 1919, probably from earlier sense "move lightly and quickly, dart" (1854), of unknown origin. Related: Skived; skiving.
skivvies (n.): "underwear," 1932, nautical slang, of unknown origin. An earlier skivvy/skivey was London slang for "female domestic servant" (1902).
skoal (interj.): also skol, Scandinavian toasting word, c. 1600, from Danish skaal "a toast," literally "bowl, cup," from Old Norse skal "bowl, drinking vessel," originally a cup made from a shell, from Proto-Germanic *skelo, from PIE *(s)kel- (1) "to cut" (see shell (n.)). The word first appears in Scottish English, and may have been connected to the visit of James VI of Scotland to Denmark in 1589.
skosh: "a little bit," Korean War armed forces slang, from Japanese sukoshi "few, little, some."
Skraeling (n.): 1767, Norse name for inhabitants of Greenland encountered by the Viking settlers there, from Old Norse Skræingjar (plural), apparently literally "little men" (compare Icelandic skrælna "shrink"); another term for them was smair menn. The name may have been used first in reference to the inhabitants of Vineland (who would have been Indians), then transferred to Eskimos, who adopted it into their own language as Kalaleq.
Hans Egede, who published a dictionary of Greenland Eskimo in 1739, says that the Eskimos themselves told him that they got the name from the Norsemen who once lived in Greenland. [Gordon, p.217-8]
sku (n.): by 1974, acronym from stock-keeping unit.
skua (n.): type of predatory gull, 1670s, from Faeroese skugvur, related to Old Norse skufr "seagull, tuft, tassel," and possibly to skauf "fox's tail."
skulduddery (n.): also sculduddery, "fornication," 1713; see skulduggery.
skulduggery (n.): 1856, apparently an alteration of Scottish sculdudrie "adultery" (1713), sculduddery "bawdry, obscenity" (1821), a euphemism of uncertain origin.
skulk (v.): c. 1200, from a Scandinavian source such as Norwegian skulke "to shirk, malinger," Danish skulke "to spare oneself, shirk," Swedish skolka "to shirk, skulk, slink, play truant." Common in Middle English but lacking in 15c.-16c. records; possibly reborrowed 17c. Related: Skulked; skulking; skulker; skulkery.
skull (n.): "bony framework of the head," c. 1200, probably from Old Norse skalli "a bald head, skull," a general Scandinavian word (compare Swedish skulle, Norwegian skult), probably related to Old English scealu "husk" (see shell (n.)). But early prominence in southwestern texts suggests rather origin from a Dutch or Low German cognate (such as Dutch schol "turf, piece of ice," but the sense of "head bone framework" is wanting). Derivation from Old French escuelle seems unlikely on grounds of sound and sense. Old English words for skull include heafod-bolla.
skull-cap (n.): 1680s, from skull (n.) + cap (n.).
skunk (n.): 1630s, squunck, from a southern New England Algonquian language (probably Abenaki) seganku, from Proto-Algonquian */šeka:kwa/, from */šek-/ "to urinate" + */-a:kw/ "fox." As an insult, attested from 1841. Skunk cabbage is attested from 1751; earlier skunkweed (1738).
skunk (v.): "to completely defeat (in a game), to shut out from scoring," 1831, from skunk (n.). Related: Skunked; skunking.
sky (n.): c. 1200, "a cloud," from Old Norse sky "cloud," from Proto-Germanic *skeujam "cloud, cloud cover" (cognates: Old English sceo, Old Saxon scio "cloud, region of the clouds, sky;" Old High German scuwo, Old English scua, Old Norse skuggi "shadow;" Gothic skuggwa "mirror"), from PIE root *(s)keu- "to cover, conceal" (see hide (n.1)).

Meaning "upper regions of the air" is attested from c. 1300; replaced native heofon in this sense (see heaven). In Middle English, the word can still mean both "cloud" and "heaven," as still in the skies, originally "the clouds." Sky-high is from 1812; phrase the sky's the limit is attested from 1908. Sky-dive first recorded 1965; sky-writing is from 1922.
sky (v.): "to raise or throw toward the skies," 1802, from sky (n.).
skyclad (adj.): also sky-clad, "naked," 1909, from sky (n.) + clad. Perhaps translating Sanskrit digam-bara "having the four quarters for clothing."