"S" Word Origins

saxe

Origin

Seemingly a combination of influences: Middle English Saxe (“the Saxons”) (from Old English Seaxe), Middle French Saxe (“Saxony”), and German Sachsen (“Saxony”) and Sachse (“a Saxon”) itself, rewritten with x (compare regional German Saxen). The form Saxẽ (i.e., Saxen) is found in some Early Modern sources. The surname is also partly from German Sachs, itself a variant of Sachse; a variant of Dutch Sas (literally “Saxon”), a cognate; and Middle English Saxe, a personal name from Old Norse Saxi, from sax (“one-edged sword”). All of these ultimately lead back to Proto-Germanic *sahsą (“dagger, knife”). Doublet of Sachs, Sax, Sas, and Sachse.

Saxon

Old English

From Old English Seaxan, ultimately from a Germanic root meaning "knife" — the Saxons were named after the short single-edged blade, the seax, they were known for carrying.

Saxony

German

Named after the German region of Saxony, once a major centre of fine wool production.

saxophone

Greek

Named after its inventor, the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax, combined with the Greek-derived ending "-phone" meaning "sound."

say

Old English

From Old English secgan, "to say" — an ancient Germanic verb related to German sagen and Dutch zeggen.

saya

Spanish

Borrowed into Tagalog from Spanish saya, meaning "skirt."

sayer

Origin

Formed from the verb "say" plus the agent suffix "-er," meaning "one who does the action."

Sayers

Middle English

* A patronymic form of the occupational name Sayer, from Middle English and Old English, and of a Norman given name of uncertain etymology. * An anglicisation of the Irish Saoghair.

saying

Origin

Formed from the verb "say" plus the "-ing" ending, turning it into a noun for something spoken.

sayonara

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese sayōnara, literally meaning something like "if that's how it is" — a farewell that implies accepting the situation.

Sayuri

Origin

Blend of Sayori + Yuri.

saz

French

From Persian sâz, meaning "instrument," via French.

scab

Old English

From Old English sceabb and Old Norse skabb, both going back to a Germanic root shared with "scabies" and "shabby."

scabbard

Old French

From Old French/Anglo-Norman roots meaning roughly "blade protection," from Germanic words for "blade" and "shelter."

scabby

Origin

From "scab" plus the adjective ending "-y"; a doublet of "shabby," which comes from the same root.

scabies

Latin

From Latin scabiēs, "itch, mange," related to the verb scabere, "to scratch."

scabrous

Origin

Borrowed from Latin scaber (“scabrous, rough; scabby, mangy, itchy”) (from scabō (“to scratch, scrape, abrade”), from Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- (“to scratch”)) + English -ous; compare French scabreux, Late Latin scabrōsus.

scaffold

Vulgar Latin

From Old French terms for a viewing platform, ultimately from Vulgar Latin words describing a raised stage or stand.

scaffolder

Origin

From scaffold + -er.

scaffolding

Origin

From "scaffold" plus "-ing," describing the overall system of temporary supports.

scag

Origin

Unknown. Compare scat (“heroin; whiskey”), slag (“waste; a prostitute”), skank (“a disreputable woman”).

scala

Latin

Borrowed from Latin scāla, "ladder" — the same root that gives English "scale."

scalawag

Origin

Of obscure origin, perhaps from the name of the Shetland village of Scalloway (from Old Norse Skálavágr), known for its dwarf ponies and dwarf cattle.

scalding

Latin

From the verb "scald," ultimately tracing back to Latin excaldāre, "to bathe in hot water," from ex- + caldus, "hot."

scale

Latin

From Latin scāla, "ladder, staircase," from scandere, "to climb" — the same root behind "ascend" and "descend." The fish-skin sense comes from a separate but similarly spelled Germanic word.

scales

Old Norse

From Old Norse skáli, "bowl, hut" — referring to the pans of a balance.

scaling

Origin

From the verb "scale" plus "-ing."

scallion

Origin

From Middle English scaloun (“shallot”), from Anglo-Norman scalun (variant of Old French eschaloigne), from a Proto-Romance derivation of Vulgar Latin *escalonia, from Latin Ascalonius (in caepa (“onion”) Ascalonius, "shallot"), from Ascalo (“Ascalon”), from Ancient Greek Ἀσκάλων (Askálōn, “Ascalon, an ancient port city in the Levant”), borrowed from Biblical Hebrew אַשְׁקְלוֹן (ʾašqəlôn).

scallop

Old French

From Old French escalope, "shell," a doublet of "escalope" and related to "scale" and "shell."

scallywag

Origin

Unknown.

scalp

Middle English

From Middle English scalp, "crown of the head, skull," probably from a North Germanic source; the historical practice of removing an enemy's scalp as a trophy gave rise to the verb "to scalp."

scalpel

Latin

From Latin scalpellum, a diminutive of scalprum, "knife," from scalpere, "to cut."

scalping

Origin

From the verb "scalp" (in its ticket-reselling sense) plus "-ing."

scaly

Origin

From "scale" plus the adjective ending "-y."

scam

Irish · 1980

Origin uncertain — American slang, possibly linked to "scamp" (a swindler) or an Irish word for "crooked." It became widely known in the early 1980s after the FBI's Operation ABSCAM sting.

scamcoin

Origin

From scam + coin.

scamp

Vulgar Latin

From Old French escamper, "to escape," itself from Vulgar Latin roots meaning "to flee the field" — related to "escape."

scamper

Dutch · 1600

First recorded in the late 17th century; likely related to Dutch schamperen and ultimately the same root as "scamp," meaning "to run away."

scampi

Italian

Borrowed from Italian scampi, the plural of scampo, "prawn."

scampishness

Origin

From scampish + -ness.

scan

Late Latin

From Late Latin scandere, "to scan verse" (originally about checking a poem's metre), from Latin scandō, "to climb, rise."

scandal

Latin

From Ecclesiastical Latin scandalum, "stumbling block, cause of offence," from Greek skándalon, originally meaning a trap set for an enemy.

scandalise

Origin

From scandal + -ise.

scandalize

Origin

From Latin scandalizō, from Ancient Greek σκανδαλίζω (skandalízō). By surface analysis, scandal + -ize.

scandalous

Latin

From Old French scandaleux, ultimately from the same Latin/Greek root as "scandal."

scandaroon

Origin

From variant forms of Ottoman Turkish إسكندرون (İskenderūn) under influence from English -oon. Compare Stambul and Stamboul for Istanbul. In reference to the pigeons, supposedly derived from the use of the pigeon to carry messages from the English factory at Iskanderun to Aleppo upon the arrival of new ships. In reference to swindlers, presumably under the influence of scandal and cognates and -oon. Doublet of Alexandria, Alexandretta, Iskenderun, and Kandahar.

scandent

Origin

From the present participle stem of Latin scandere (“to climb”).

Scandinavia

Latin

From Latin Scandināvia, from a Germanic word linked to the southern tip of Sweden, "Scania," plus a suffix meaning "island."