Etymology dictionary

shrewdish (adj.) — sickle (n.)

shrewdish (adj.)

"somewhat shrewd," by 1807; see shrewd + -ish. In some cases perhaps an error for shrewish.

late 14c., "wicked, malignant," from shrew + -ish. It survived only in reference to women, "fond of scolding, given to exhibitions of ill temper" (that specific sense by 1560s). Related: Shrewishly; shrewishness.

Shrewsbury

one of the most etymologically complex of English place names, it illustrates the changes wrought in Old English words by Anglo-French scribes who could not pronounce them. Recorded 1016 as Scrobbesbyrig, it originally may have meant "the fortified place in (a district called) The Scrub." The initial consonant cluster was impossible for the scribes, who simplified it to sr-, then added a vowel (sar-) to make it easier still.

The name also changed due to Anglo-French loss or metathesis of liquids in words containing -l-, -n-, or -r- (also evident in the derivatives of Old French Berengier "bear-spear" — Old High German Beringar — name of one of the paladins in the Charlemagne romances and a common given name in England 12c. and 13c., which has come down in surnames as Berringer, Bellanger, Benger, etc.). Thus Sarop- became Salop- and in the 12c. and 13c. the overwhelming spelling in government records was Salopesberie, which accounts for the abbreviation Salop for the modern county.

During all this, the Anglo-Saxon inhabitants (as opposed to the French scribes) still pronounced it properly, and regular sound evolutions probably produced a pronunciation something like Shrobesbury (which turns up on a 1327 patent roll). After a predictable -b- to -v- (a vowel in the Middle Ages) to -u- shift, the modern spelling begins to emerge 14c. and is fully established 15c. A Shrewsbury clock (1 Hen. IV) for some reason, became proverbial for exactness, and thus, naturally, proverbial as indicating exaggeration of accuracy.

shriek (v.)

"to scream; screech; utter a sharp, shrill cry," from pain, fear, grief, also of laughter, a 16c. variant of scrycke, skriken (c. 1200), from Old Norse skrækja "to screech" (see screech), probably of imitative origin. Transitive sense is from 1590s. Related: Shrieked; shrieking. The noun is attested from 1580s, "a sharp, shrill outcry," from the verb.

shrift (n.)

Old English scrift "confession to priest, followed by penance and absolution," verbal noun from scrifan "to impose penance," from an early Germanic borrowing of Latin scribere "to write" (from PIE root *skribh- "to cut").

The Germanic borrowing produced nouns for "penance, confession" in Old English and Scandinavian (such as Old Norse skrjpt "penance, confession"), but elsewhere in Germanic it means "writing, scripture, alphabet letter;" see shrive.

The sense drifted early toward simply "absolution received after confession." Short shrift (1590s) originally was the brief time for a condemned criminal to confess before execution in a sentence of punishment without delay; the figurative extension to "little or no consideration" is attested by 1814.

shrike (n.)

"predatory oscine passerine bird notable for its long, toothed bill," 1540s, apparently from a survival of Old English scric "a shrike or thrush," literally "bird with a shrill call," probably echoic of its cry and related to shriek (compare Old Norse skrikja "shrieker, shrike," German schrik "moor hen," Swedish skrika "jay"), which in Middle English also was used of bird cries.

shrill (v.)

"to sound shrilly; utter a keen, piercing, high-pitched sound," c. 1300, shrillen, imitative (see shrill (adj.)). Related: Shrilled; shrilling.

shrill (adj.)

late 14c., schrylle "high-pitched, sharp and piercing" (in reference to voice or sound), probably related to Old English scralletan "to sound loudly" and of imitative origin (compare Low German schrell, German schrill "piercing, shrill"). Related: Shrillness.

shrilly (adv.)

"with a shrill sound," 1580s, from shrill (adj.) + -ly (2).

shrimp (n.)

early 14c., "slender, long-tailed, ten-footed, edible marine crustacean," Middle English shrimpe, probably from or related to Old Norse skreppa "thin person," from Proto-Germanic *skrimp- (see scrimp). This is related to Old English scrimman "to shrink."

The connecting notion between the two senses would be probably "thinness" (compare Danish dialectal skrimpe "thin cattle"). OED speculates that the general sense of "shrunken creature, puny person" is probably directly from the etymological source, however that meaning in English is attested only from late 14c. and is felt as transferred from the crustacean sense. An especially puny one might be a shrimplet (1680s). Shrimp cocktail is attested by 1894.

shrimp (v.)

"fish for shrimp," 1801 (implied in shrimping), from shrimp (n.). Related: Shrimper "person who catches shrimp; vessel engaged in shrimping" (1808).

shrimpy (adj.)

1841, "smelling of shrimp;" 1859, "abounding in shrimp," from shrimp (n.) + -y (2). Also, of persons, "small, slender, and weak" (by 1848). An earlier adjective was shrimpish (1540s). The Dorset dialect shrimpy, noted in 1847 and meaning, of lands, "thin, arid, poor," might represent a survival from Old English scrimman "to dry up."

shrine (n.)

Middle English shrine "repository in which a holy object or the relics of a saint are kept," from late Old English scrin "ark (of the covenant); chest, coffer; case for relics," from Latin scrinium "case or box for keeping papers," a word of unknown origin.

A widespread Latin borrowing: compare Dutch schrijn, German Schrein, French écrin, (Old French escrin, escrien), Russian skrynya, Lithuanian skrinė. It is attested in English from late 14c. as "a tomb of a saint" (usually elaborate and large).

Shriner (n.)

1882, a member of the Order of Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (established 1872).

shrink (n.)

mid-15c., "a wrinkle;" 1580s, "an act of shrinking;" from shrink (v.). The slang meaning "psychiatrist, psychotherapist" (by 1966) is from head-shrinker.

shrink (v.)

Middle English shrinken, from Old English scrincan "to draw in the limbs, contract spontaneously, shrivel up; wither (through death, age, disease, etc.), pine away" (class III strong verb; past tense scranc, past participle scruncen), from Proto-Germanic *skrink- (source also of Middle Dutch schrinken, Swedish skrynka "to wrinkle"), probably from PIE root *sker- (2) "to turn, bend."

Originally it had a causal form, shrench (compare drink/drench). The sense of "become reduced in size" is recorded from late 13c. The meaning "draw back, recoil" (early 14c.) often was in reference to the behavior of snails; the meaning "flinch, wince, draw back from fear or shame" is by mid-14c. The transitive sense of "cause to shrink, make to appear smaller" is from late 14c.

Shrink-wrap "clingy thin plastic film" used in food packaging is attested from 1961 (shrinking-wrap is by 1959). Shrinking violet "shy person" is attested by 1882.

shrinkage (n.)

1713, "act or fact of shrinking, contraction of a material to a smaller surface or bulk," from shrink (v.) + -age. The meaning "amount by which something has shrunk" is by 1862.

shrive (v.)

Middle English shriven "make confession; administer the sacrament of penance to," from Old English scrifan "assign, prescribe, ordain, decree; impose penance, hear confession; have regard for, care for," apparently originally "to write" (strong, past tense scraf, past participle scrifen), from Proto-Germanic *skriban (source also of Old Saxon scriban, Old Frisian skriva "write; impose penance;" Old Dutch scrivan, Dutch schrijven, German schreiben "to write, draw, paint;" Danish skrifte "confess"), an early borrowing from Latin scribere "to write" (from PIE root *skribh- "to cut"), which in Old English and Scandinavian developed further to "confess, hear or receive confession."

shrivel (v.)

"contract, draw, or be drawn into wrinkles," 1560s (implied in shriveled), a word of unknown origin, not found in Middle English; perhaps from a Scandinavian source (compare Swedish skryvla "to wrinkle, to shrivel"), and perhaps ultimately connected with shrimp (n.) and shrink (v.). Related: Shriveled; shriveling.

Middle English did have rivelled "wrinkled, furrowed," from Old English rifelede, from *rifel "a wrinkle or fold on the skin," a word of obscure origin, "very common c 1530-1720" [OED] in the senses "dried" (of fruit), "shriveled by heat."

shriven

past participle of shrive (v.).

shriver (n.)

"confessor," mid-14c., agent noun from shrive (v.).

Shropshire

with shire + the shortened form of the old spelling of Shrewsbury (q.v.).

shroud (n.)

Old English scrud "a garment, article of clothing, dress, something which envelops and conceals," from West Germanic *skruthan, from Proto-Germanic *skrud- "cut" (source also of Old Norse skruð "shrouds of a ship, tackle, gear; furniture of a church," Danish, Swedish skrud "dress, attire"), from PIE *skreu- "to cut" (see shred (n.)).

The specific meaning "winding-sheet for a dead body, cloth or sheet for burial," to which the word now is restricted, is attested from 1560s. The sense of "strong rope supporting the mast of a ship" (mid-15c.) is from the notion of "clothing" a spar or mast; one without rigging was said to be naked.

shroud (v.)

c. 1300, shrouden, "to clothe (with a garment or veil), cover, protect," from Old English scrydan, scridan "to clothe, dress;" see shroud (n.). Especially "put a shroud on a dead body for burial" (1570s). The meaning "to hide from view, conceal" (transitive) is attested from early 15c. Related: Shrouded; shrouding.

shrove (n.)

"shrift, shriving," 1570s, used only in ecclesiastical phrases, shortened from Shrovetide (early 15c., Shrof-tide), "the three days before Ash Wednesday," a time of confession, from schrof-, which is related to schrifen (see shrive). Shrove Tuesday (c. 1500, earlier Shrof-dai, mid-15c.) is from practice of celebration and merrymaking before confession at the start of Lent.

shrub (n.)

"low-growing bush, a woody plant with stems branched from or near the ground," Middle English shrubbe, from Old English scrybb "brushwood, shrubbery," a rare and late word (but preserved also, perhaps, in Shrewsbury), possibly from a Scandinavian source (compare dialectal Danish skrub "brushwood," Norwegian skrubba "dwarf tree"). OED says it is presumably related to North Frisian skrobb "broom plant, brushwood;" West Flemish schrobbe "climbing wild pea," with a base notion of "rough plant." Watkins has this as ultimately from PIE *(s)kerb-, an extended form of root *sker- (1) "to cut."

shrubbery (n.)

1748, "place where shrubs are planted," from shrub + -ery. As "shrubs collectively," from 1777. Shrubbage is from 1713.

shrug (n.)

"shoulder motion meant to express indifference, doubt, want of an answer, etc.," 1590s, from shrug (v.). The earliest references often are to stage acting, and treat the gesture as somehow foreign; it is described variously a Neapolitan, Spanish, or French shrug in OED's early citations.

shrug (v.)

late 14c., shruggen, "raise or draw up (the shoulders) with a sudden movement," a word of uncertain origin, perhaps connected to Danish skrugge "to stoop, crouch." From c. 1600 generally as an expression of doubt, indifference, etc., but it isn't clearly so in the earliest uses. It also could mean "to shrink, to shiver," as with cold (mid-15c.). Related: Shrugged; shrugging. Figurative use of shrug (something) off "be indifferent to" is by 1909.

shrunken (adj.)

"having shrunk, shriveled up," Middle English shronken, shrunken, from Old English gescruncan, past-participle adjective from shrink (v.).

shtetl (n.)

"Jewish small town or village in Eastern Europe," 1949, from Yiddish, literally "little town," from diminutive of German Stadt "city, town," from Old High German stat "place" (ultimately from PIE root *sta- "to stand, make or be firm").

shtick (n.)

also schtick, 1959, in theater jargon, "stage routine, characteristic act or joke," from Yiddish shtik "an act, gimmick," literally "a piece, a slice," from Middle High German stücke "a piece, play" (Modern German Stück "piece"), from Old High German stucki (see stock (n.1)).

shtoom (adj.)

"speechless, silent," from Yiddish, from German stumm "silent, mute" (see stammer (v.)).

shtup (v.)

by 1952, "annoy;" by 1967, "have sexual intercourse with;" a Yiddish word, literally "push, shove," related to dialectal German stupfen "to nudge, jog," probably related to stop (v.).

shucks (interj.)

expression of indifference or rejection of some suggestion or remark, 1847, from shuck (n.) in the secondary sense "something valueless" (i.e. not worth shucks, attested in a separate source from 1847).

shuck (n.)

1670s, "husk, pod, a shell," especially of a nut, a dialectal word of unknown origin. Compare shuck (v.). It was later used in reference to the shells of oysters and clams (1872). Figuratively, as a type of something worthless, by 1836.

shuck (v.)

"to remove the shucks from," 1819, from or related to shuck (n.). Related: Shucked; shucker; shucking.

Many extended U.S. slang senses are from the notion of "stripping" an ear of corn, or from the capers associated with husking frolics; such as "to strip (off) one's clothes" (1848) and "to deceive, swindle, cheat, fool" (1959). The phrase shucking and jiving "fooling, deceiving" is suggested from 1966, in African-American vernacular, but compare shuck (v.) a slang term among "cool musicians" for "to improvise chords, especially to a piece of music one does not know" (1957), and shuck (n.) "a theft or fraud," in use by 1950s in African-American vernacular.

shudder (v.)

c. 1200, shoderen, "tremble, quake, shiver, vibrate,," not found in Old English; possibly from Middle Dutch schuderen "to shudder," or Middle Low German schoderen, both frequentative forms from Proto-Germanic *skuth- "to shake." Related: Shuddered; shuddering.

shudder (n.)

"act of shuddering, tremulous motion, vibration," especially a quick, involuntary quiver of the body, as from cold, fear, disgust; c. 1600, from shudder (v.).

shuffle (v.)

1530s, "put together hastily," probably from Middle English shovelen "to move with dragging feet," itself probably a frequentative form of shoven (see shove (v.) and compare scuffle). Or perhaps from Low German schuffeln "to walk clumsily, deal dishonestly."

In reference to playing cards in a pack, "change the relative position of so that they may fall to players in an irregular and unknown order," it is recorded by 1560s, frequently figurative. The meaning "move the feet along the floor without lifting them" is from 1570s.

The meaning "push along gradually, shove little by little" is from 1560s. The meaning "move from one place to another" is from 1690s. The sense of "do a shuffle dance" is by 1818 (Scott, in reference to a dancing bear). Related: Shuffled; shuffling. To shuffle off "get rid of, dispose of" is from Shakespeare (1601).

shuffle (n.)

1620s, "an evasion, trick;" 1640s, "a wavering or undecided course of behavior meant to deceive;" from shuffle (v.).

The meaning "a slow, heavy, irregular manner of moving" is by 1847; that of "a dance in which the feet are shuffled" is from 1640s. The meaning "a change in the order of playing-cards" is from 1650s. The figurative phrase lost in the shuffle "missed among the multitude" is by 1888, apparently from the card-playing sense.

shuffleboard (n.)

also shuffle-board, 1530s, shovillaborde "shovel board," an unexplained alteration of shove-board (1520s), from shove (v.) + board (n.1). Originally a tabletop game (c. 1600), the large-scale version (1877) was improvised for play on ocean liners.

shuffler (n.)

1620s, "shifty person," agent noun from shuffle (v.). In later use "one who or that which shuffles," in any sense; especially "one who shuffles cards" (by 1894).

shufty (n.)

also shufti "a look, a glance," 1943, originally British military, from Arabic shufti "have you seen?" from shaf "to see."

shul (n.)

"synagogue," 1874, from Yiddish shul, from German Schule (see school (n.1)). Earlier the word was Englished as school.

shun (v.)

Middle English shunnen, "keep out of the way of, avoid (a person or place); refrain from, neglect (a practice or behavior)," from Old English scunian "run away from, avoid; abhor, loathe; seek safety by concealment," a word of uncertain origin; according to OED not found in other Germanic languages. Perhaps it is ultimately from PIE root *skeu- "to cover, to hide." Related: Shunned; shunning. A shun-pike (American English, by 1805 as a name of a road in New York) was a road constructed to avoid tolls.

shunt (v.)

mid-13c., shunten, "to shy, start aside or back, move suddenly," perhaps from shunen, shonen "to shun" (see shun), and altered by influence of shot or shut. The transitive meaning "to turn aside" is from late 14c.; that of "move out of the way" is from 1706. Adopted by railways by 1842, "move cars or a train from a main line to a sidetrack." Related: Shunted; shunting.

shunt (n.)

"a turning aside," 1838, in railway use, from shunt (v.). It was used by technicians in the sense of "circuit introduced to diminish the current through the main circuit" by 1863. Medical use, "natural or artificial route from a vein to an artery," is by 1923. In Middle English it meant "a sudden jerk or swerve" (late 14c.).

shush (v.)

1921, transitive, "bid or force (someone) to silence with the "shhh" sound, imitative of the command to be quiet (1904), itself an expansion of sh. Related: Shushed; shushing.

shut (v.)

Middle English shitten, sheten, "close (a door, window, gate, etc.); lock, fasten closed," from Old English scyttan "to put (a bolt) in place so as to fasten a door or gate, bolt, shut to; discharge, pay off," from West Germanic *skutjan (source also of Old Frisian schetta, Middle Dutch schutten "to shut, shut up, obstruct"), from PIE root *skeud- "to shoot, chase, throw." Related: Shutting.

The meaning "to close by folding or bringing together" is from mid-14c. That of "prevent ingress and egress" is from mid-14c. The sense of "to set (someone) free (from)," by c. 1500, is obsolete except in dialectal phrases such as get (or be) shut of (attested by 1570s). To shut (one's) mouth "desist from speaking" is recorded from mid-14c.

As a past-participle adjective, "made fast, closed, enclosed," by late 15c. As a noun, "action, time, or place of shutting," by 1660s.

shutdown (n.)

also shut-down, "a discontinuance, act of shutting down," 1857, from the verbal phrase; see shut (v.) + down (adv.). Especially in reference to factory work (by 1884); shut down (v.) "stop working, become or be idle" is attested by 1877. By 1911 of machines; 1945 of nuclear reactors.

shute (n.)

1790, "channel, trough," a dialectal combination of chute and shoot (n.1).

shut-eye (n.)

colloquial for "sleep," 1899, from shut (v.) + eye (n.). Hans Christian Andersen's "Ole Shut-eye," about a being who makes children sleepy, came out 1842; "The Shut-Eye Train" popular children's poem by Eugene Field, is from 1896.

shut-in (n.)

"person confined from normal social intercourse," 1904, from the verbal phrase (attested by late 14c. as "lock (someone) in (some place);" from shut (v.) + in (adv.). As an adjective, shut-in "enclosed, hemmed in" is attested by 1849, especially of persons, "isolated and confined by disability, etc."

shut-off (n.)

1869, "something which shuts off;" 1889, "cessation of flow," from the verbal phrase, which is attested from 1824, "turn off, prevent the passage of (gas, steam) by closing a valve, etc."

shutout (n.)

also shut-out, 1889 in sports (baseball), "game in which one side does not score," from the verbal phrase shut out "exclude from a situation, deny (someone) right of entry to a place" (late 14c.), attested from 1881 in the sports sense of "not allow (the other team) to score any runs in a full game" (baseball); from shut (v.) + out (adv.). Middle English had a verb outshut "to shut out, exclude," mid-15c.

shutter (v.)

"close with or as with a shutter," 1826, from shutter (n.). Related: Shuttered; shuttering.

shutter (n.)

1540s, "one who shuts" (see shut (v.)); the meaning "movable wooden or iron frame or screen used as a cover for a window" is from 1720s (probably short for window-shutters, attested from 1680s). The photographic sense of "device for opening and closing the aperture of a lens" is from 1862.

shutterbug (n.)

also shutter-bug, "enthusiastic amateur photographer," 1938, from shutter (n.) in the camera sense + bug (n.) in the "enthusiast" sense; it is roughly the same age as jitterbug.

shuttle (n.)

Middle English shitel, "missile; a weaver's instrument," also the name of a children's game, from Old English scytel "a dart, arrow," from Proto-Germanic *skutilaz (source also of Old Norse skutill "harpoon"), from PIE root *skeud- "to shoot, chase, throw."

The original sense in English is obsolete; the weaving instrument is so called from being "shot" across the threads. The sense of "train that runs back and forth" is recorded by 1895, from the image of the weaver's instrument's back-and-forth movement over the warp; extended to aircraft or air service by 1942, to spacecraft by 1969 in science, 1960 in science fiction. In some other languages, the weaving instrument takes its name from its resemblance to a boat (Latin navicula, French navette, German weberschiff).

shuttle (v.)

1540s, transitive, "move (something) rapidly to and fro," from shuttle (n.); the sense of "transport via a shuttle service" is recorded from 1930. The intransitive sense of "go or move backward and forward like a shuttle" is from 1843. Related: Shuttled; shuttling.

shuttlecock (n.)

"feathered lump of cork (or similar substance) batted back and forth between players in a game," 1570s, from shuttle (v.) + cock (n.2).

shut up (v.)

c. 1400, "keep from view or use, render inaccessible" early 15c., "to lock up, confine," from shut (v.) + up (adv.). The meaning "cause to stop talking" is from 1814 (Jane Austen). The intransitive meaning "cease from speaking" is from 1840, also as a command to be silent, sometimes colloquialized in print as shuddup (1940). Put up or shut up "defend yourself or be silent" is U.S. slang, by 1868.

shy (adj.)

Middle English shei, "easily frightened or startled," from late Old English sceoh "timid, easily startled," from Proto-Germanic *skeukh(w)az "afraid" (source also of Middle Low German schüwe, Dutch schuw, German scheu "shy;" Old High German sciuhen, German scheuchen "to scare away"). Cognates outside Germanic are uncertain, unless perhaps in Old Church Slavonic shchuti "to hunt, incite." Italian schivare "to avoid," Old French eschiver "to shun" are Germanic loan-words.

The meaning "shrinking from contact with others, difficult of approach because of timidity" is by c. 1600. The meaning "lacking, short of" is from 1895, American English gambling slang. As the last element of a compound (gun-shy, etc.) "frightened, averse, reluctant," by 1849.

shy (v.1)

1787, shie, "throw a missile with a jerk or toss," 1787, chiefly colloquial according to OED, of obscure origin and uncertain connection to shy (adj.). The transitive sense of "fling, throw, toss" (with at) is by 1793. Related: Shied; shying.

shy (v.2)

"to recoil, take sudden fright or aversion," 1640s, from shy (adj.). The transitive sense of "shun, avoid" (someone or something) is by 1802. To shy away from "find a means of evading" is by 1867. Related: Shied; shying.

shyly (adv.)

"in a shy manner," 1701, from shy (adj.) + -ly (2).

Shylock (n.)

"usurer, merciless creditor," 1786, from the name of the Jewish money-lender character in Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice" (c. 1596).

shyness (n.)

"quality or condition of being shy," 1650s, from shy (adj.) + -ness.

shyster (n.)

"unscrupulous lawyer," 1843, U.S. slang, probably altered from German Scheisser "incompetent worthless person," from Scheisse "shit" (n.), from Old High German skizzan "to defecate" (see shit (v.)).

-sis

suffix in Greek-derived nouns denoting action, process, state, condition, from Greek -sis, which is identical in meaning with Latin -entia, English -ing (1).

sis (n.)

as a colloquial abbreviated form of sister, 1659s; in American English, applied generally to girls and young women (1859). As Sis, Siss, it had been also the familiar short form of Cecilie, Cicely, a common name for girls in the Middle English period made familiar as the name of a daughter of William the Conqueror. Also compare sissy.

si

"yes" in Italian and Spanish; in both instances from Latin sic "so" (see sic).

sial (n.)

in geology, 1922; see silicon + aluminum. Related: Sialic.

sialo-

before vowels sial-, word-forming element meaning "saliva," from Greek sialon "saliva."

Siam

name of Thailand before 1939 and from 1945-48, from Thai sayam, from Sanskrit syama "dark," in reference to the skin color of the people relative to whomever gave the name.

Siamese (adj.)

"of or pertaining to Siam," 1690s; see Siam + -ese. Also from 1690s as a noun meaning "native of Siam." The original Siamese twins (exhibited from 1829) were Chang and Eng (1814-1874), Thai-Chinese natives of Siam who settled in the U.S. Hence Siamesed (adj.) "joined in the manner of Siamese twins" (1830). Siamese cat is attested from 1871.

sib (n.)

short for sibling, attested from 1957; a revival of an old and once-important word, Middle English sibbe "kinsfolk, relatives," as in sib and couth, a conventional phrase for "kinsmen and acquaintances;" from noun use of the Old English adjective.

Siberia

region in northwestern Asia, the name said to come from Sibir, ancient Tatar fortress at the confluence of the Tobol and Irtysh rivers. As a typical place of miserable banishment, it is attested from 1841. Related: Siberian. Siberian tiger is by 1895.

sibilant (adj.)

"having a hissing sound," 1660s, from Latin sibilantem (nominative sibilans), present participle of sibilare "to hiss, whistle," which is perhaps of imitative origin (compare Greek sizein "to hiss," Lettish sikt "to hiss," Old Church Slavonic svistati "to hiss, whistle"). Related: Sibilance; sibilation (1620s).

sibilant (n.)

"speech sound having a hissing effect," 1772, from sibilant (adj.). Middle English had sibilatour "one who hisses or whistles" (mid-15c., from Medieval Latin); sibillus "hissing or whistling sensation in the ear" (late 14c.).

sibilate (v.)

"to hiss," 1650s, from Latin sibilatus, past participle of sibilare "to hiss, whistle" (see sibilant (adj.)). Related: Sibilated; sibilating; sibilation.

sibling (n.)

"brother or sister," 1903, a modern revival (originally in anthropology) of Middle English and Old English sibling "relative, kinsman or kinswoman," from sibb "kinship, relationship; love, friendship, peace, happiness," from Proto-Germanic *sibja- "blood relation, relative," properly "one's own" (source also of Old Saxon sibba, Old Frisian, Middle Dutch sibbe, Old High German sippa, German Sippe, Gothic sibja "kin, kindred"), from PIE *s(w)e-bh(o)- (source also of Old Church Slavonic sobistvo, Russian sob "character, individuality"), an enlargement of the root *swe- "self" (see idiom). Compare the second element in gossip.

In Old English, sibb and its compounds covered senses of "brotherly love, familial affection" which tended later to lump into love (n.), as in sibsumnes "peace, concord, brotherly love," sibbian (v.) "bring together, reconcile," sibbecoss "kiss of peace." Sibship, however, is a modern formation (1908). Sib persisted through Middle English as a noun, adjective, and verb expressing kinship and relationship. Sibling group is by 1950; sibling rivalry by 1937.

sibyl (n.)

"woman supposed to possess powers of prophecy, female soothsayer," c. 1200, from Old French sibile, sibille, from Latin Sibylla, from Greek Sibylla, a name for any of several prophetesses consulted by ancient Greeks and Romans. The word is of uncertain origin, by Jerome said to be from Doric Siobolla, from Attic Theoboulē "divine wish." Also in Old English as Sibylla.

sibylline (adj.)

"pertaining to or uttered by a sibyl," 1570s, from Latin sibyllinus, from sibylla (see sibyl).

sic (adv.)

"such," a Latin word insertion parenthetically in printed quotation to call attention to error in the original; literally "so, thus, in this way," related to or emphatic of si "if," from PIE root *so- "this, that" (source also of Old English sio "she"). It was used regularly in English publications by 1876, perhaps by influence of similar use in French (1872).

Sic passim is "generally so throughout" (see passim).

sic (v.)

"to set upon, attack;" see sick (v.).

siccative (adj.)

early 15c. (Chauliac), of a medicine, "inducing or promoting dryness," from Late Latin siccativus "drying, siccative," from Latin siccatus, past participle of siccare "to dry, make dry; dry up," from siccus "dry, thirsty; without rain," from PIE root *seikw- "to flow out" (source also of Avestan hiku- "dry," Greek iskhnos "dry, withered," Lithuanian seklus "shallow," Middle Irish sesc "dry," Sanskrit sincati "makes dry"). The modern noun is attested by 1825; it also was a noun in Middle English.

sice (n.)

"a roll of 6 in dice," late 14c., from Old French sis, from Latin sex (see six).

Sicily

large island off the southwest tip of Italy, from Latin Sicilia, from Greek Sikelia, from Sikeloi (plural) "Sicilians," the name of an ancient people living along the Tiber, some of whom emigrated to the island that thereafter bore their name. The Greeks distinguished Sikeliotēs "a Greek colonist in Sicily" from Sikelos "a native Sicilian." Sicel for "member of an ancient race of Sicily" is a modern coinage (1838). Related: Sicilian.

sick (v.)

"to chase, set upon" (as in command sick him!), 1845, a dialectal variant of seek. As it was an imperative to incite a dog to attack a person or animal, it came to mean "cause to pursue." Related: Sicked; sicking.

sickness (n.)

"state of being sick or suffering from a disease," Middle English siknesse, from Old English seocnes "sickness, disease; a particular malady;" see sick (adj.) and -ness. It formerly was synonymous with illness; in late 19c. sickness began to be restricted to nausea and other disturbances of the stomach, leaving illness as "a rather more elegant and less definite term" [Century Dictionary].

sick (adj.)

Middle English sik, from Old English seoc "ill, unwell, diseased, feeble, weak; corrupt; sad, troubled, deeply affected by strong feeling," from Proto-Germanic *seuka-, which is of uncertain origin.

It is the general Germanic word (compare Old Norse sjukr, Danish syg, Old Saxon siok, Old Frisian siak, Middle Dutch siec, Dutch ziek, Old High German sioh, Gothic siuks "sick, ill"), but in German and Dutch it was displaced by krank "weak, slim," probably via the notion of "twisted, bent" (see crank (n.)).

The restricted meaning of English sick, "having an inclination to vomit, affected with nausea," is from 1610s. By c. 1200 as "distressed emotionally by grief, anger, etc.; physically ill through emotional distress. The sense of "tired or weary (of something), disgusted from satiety" is from 1590s; the figurative phrase sick and tired of is attested from 1783. To worry (oneself) sick is by 1952.

The modern colloquial meaning "mentally twisted" is by 1955, a revival of the word's use in this sense from 1550s (the sense of "spiritually or morally corrupt" was in Old English, which also had seocmod "infirm of mind"). Sick joke is attested by 1958.

sick (n.)

"those who are sick, persons suffering from illness," Old English seoce, from the source of sick (adj.). Colloquial sense of "vomited matter" is by 1959.

sickbed (n.)

also sick-bed, "bed upon which one lies ill," early 15c., from sick (adj.) + bed (n.).

sick-bay (n.)

"forepart of a ship's main deck used as a hospital," 1580s, from sick (adj.) + bay (n.2), in the nautical sense in reference to the forepart of a ship between decks, forward of the bitts, on either side, so called from being a recessed space.

sicken (v.)

c. 1200, sikenen, "to become ill," from sick (adj.) + -en (1). Transitive sense of "to make sick, affect with illness" is recorded from 1610s. Related: Sickened; sickening. The earlier verb in Middle English was simply sick (Old English seocan) "be ill, fall ill." It is attested by 1825 as "affect with loathing or disgust."

sickening (adj.)

1725, "falling sick;" 1789, "causing revulsion, disgust, or nausea;" present-participle adjective from sicken. Related: Sickeningly.

sick-house (n.)

"house for the accommodation of the sick," early 15c., sek hous; see sick (adj.) + house (n.).

sickish (adj.)

"indisposed, in a disordered state of health," 1580s, from sick (adj.) + -ish. Related: Sickishly.

sickle (n.)

"instrument for reaping grain, a curved metal blade on a short handle or haft," Middle English sikel, from late Old English sicol, probably a West Germanic borrowing (compare Middle Dutch sickele, Dutch sikkel, Old High German sihhila, German Sichel) from Vulgar Latin *sicila, from Latin secula "sickle" (source also of Italian segolo "hatchet"), from PIE root *sek- "to cut" (see section (n.)).

Applied to curved or crescent-shaped things from mid-15c. Sickle-cell anemia is attested by 1922, from the characteristic shape of the red blood cells in people who have it.