"S" Word Origins

sheriff

Old English

From Old English scirgerefa, combining scir ("shire") and gerefa ("reeve," an official) — literally "shire-reeve." Despite the similar sound, it has no historical connection to the Arabic-derived word Sharif.

sherley

Origin

Variant of Shirley.

Sherlock

Origin · 2002

From the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. The computing sense comes from Apple's "Sherlock" search tool, which in 2002 absorbed features from a smaller rival program, Watson.

sherm

Origin

From Nat Sherman, a cigarette brand once commonly dipped in PCP because, unlike most cigarettes, it held together when wet.

Sherman

Middle English

As a surname, from Middle English schereman ("shear-man"), an occupational name for someone who sheared cloth or sheep. The tank was named after US Civil War general William Tecumseh Sherman.

Sherpa

Origin

From the Tibetan word shar pa, meaning "eastern people," reflecting the community's origins in eastern Tibet before settling in the Nepalese highlands.

sherry

Spanish

From the earlier form sherris, mistaken for a plural and shortened to sherry. Sherris in turn came from Spanish vino de Xeres ("wine of Xeres"), Xeres being the old spelling of Jerez.

Sherwood

Old English

From Old English scir ("shire") + wudu ("wood") — "the wood belonging to the shire".

shetland

Origin

Named after Shetland, the Scottish island group where the sheep breed originates.

Shetty

Origin

Borrowed from Kannada ಶೆಟ್ಟಿ (śeṭṭi).

shh

Origin

Likely an imitative sound related to hush, similar to the Scots whisht.

Shi

Origin

Clipping of shibire. Coined by Japanese-Canadian geneticist and zoologist David Suzuki, the person who also coined "shibire".

shiatsu

Japanese

From Japanese shiatsu, literally "finger pressure," from characters meaning "finger" and "downward pressure."

Shiba

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 芝 (Shiba).

Shibata

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese 柴田 (Shibata).

Shibuya

Japanese

From Japanese 渋谷 (Shibuya), literally "harsh valley."

shield

Old English

From Old English scield ("shield"), tracing back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to cut" or "split" — the original shields were likely cut from wood or hide.

shift

Old English

From Old English sċiftan, meaning "to divide, arrange, or organise" — the sense narrowed over time to mean simply "to move or change."

shiftwork

Origin

From shift + work.

shifty

Origin

Built from shift + -y, originally describing someone resourceful with "shifts" (tricks or schemes), which shifted toward meaning dishonest.

shifu

Chinese

From Mandarin Chinese 師傅/師父 (shīfu), meaning "master" or "teacher."

shigellosis

Origin

From translingual Shigella + -osis; the former is from the name of Kiyoshi Shiga.

Shih

Origin

From Wade–Giles Romanization of Mandarin 石 (shí), 史 (shǐ), 師／师 (shī), 時／时 (shí), 士 (shì), 釋／释 (shì), and 施 (shī). Doublet of Thach.

shii

Origin

Pronunciation spelling of shit. Represents a pronunciation with the final consonant deleted (a possible realization in African-American Vernacular English). Compare bih, ahh. Analyzable as shit + -h.

shikha

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit शिखा (śikhā).

shikigami

Origin

From Japanese 式(しき)神(がみ) (shikigami).

Shikoku

Japanese

From Japanese 四国 (Shikoku), literally "four provinces," referring to the island's historical regions.

shill

Origin · 1900

Origin uncertain; first recorded in early 20th-century American carnival slang for a planted audience member.

shillaber

Origin

See shill.

Shilling

Origin

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

shillingless

Origin

From shilling + -less.

Shiloh

Hebrew

From Biblical Hebrew שִׁילֹה (shiló).

shim

Origin

Origin uncertain, possibly from Kent dialect; originally referred to a piece of iron on a plough, later to thin wedges of wood or metal.

Shima

Japanese

From Japanese 島 (Shima), meaning "island."

shimada

Japanese

From Japanese 島田 (Shimada).

Shimizu

Japanese

From Japanese 清水 (Shimizu), literally "clear water."

Shimla

Hindi

From Hindi शिमला (śimlā).

shimmer

Old English

From Old English sċimerian, related to German schimmern — both describing a faint, trembling gleam of light.

shimmy

Origin

Believed to be a back-formation from chemise (a type of undergarment), mistaken for a plural form.

Shimon

Hebrew

From Hebrew שִׁמְעוֹן (shimon).

shin

Old English

From Old English scinu, unrelated to the word "skin" despite the similarity.

shinbone

Origin

From Middle English schinboon, schineboon, from Old English sċinbān (“shin, shinbone”), from Proto-West Germanic *skinubain, from Proto-Germanic *skinōbainą, equivalent to shin + bone. Cognate with Dutch scheenbeen (“shinbone”), German Schienbein (“shinbone”), Danish skinneben (“shin, shinbone”), Swedish skenben (“shinbone”).

Shinde

Hindi

From Hindi शिंदे (śinde).

shindig

Origin

Origin uncertain, possibly an alteration of "shindy," an older word for a noisy commotion.

shindy

Origin

Uncertain; compare shinney, shinty. Tentatively suggested to be a compound of the Irish words seinn (“play, sing”) and tí (“house”).

shine

Old English

From Old English sċīnan ("to shine, to be resplendent"), a very old Germanic word still recognisable in Dutch schijnen and German scheinen.

shiner

Middle English

From Middle English schyner, built from shine + -er.

shingle

Latin

From Old English sċindel, ultimately from Latin scandula, related to a root meaning "to split" — early shingles were split from wood.