"S" Word Origins

shingles

Latin

From Latin cingulum ("girdle" or "belt"), referring to the way the rash often wraps around the torso.

shinigami

Japanese

From Japanese 死に神 (shinigami), literally "death god."

shining

Origin

By surface analysis, shine + -ing.

shinjitai

Origin

Transliteration from Japanese 新(しん)字(じ)体(たい) (shinjitai).

Shinjuku

Japanese

From Japanese 新宿 (Shinjuku), literally "new lodging."

shinny

Origin

From shin (noun) + -y.

shinobi

Japanese

From Japanese 忍び (shinobi), related to 忍ぶ (shinobu, "to conceal oneself").

Shinobu

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese しのぶ (Shinobu).

Shinpei

Japanese

Borrowed from Japanese しんぺい (Shinpei).

Shinto

Chinese

From Japanese 神道 (Shintō), literally "way of the gods," borrowed from Chinese roots meaning "ways of the gods."

Shinwell

Origin

Variant of Shimwell.

shiny

Old English

From shine plus the adjective-forming suffix -y, going back through Old English to a Proto-Germanic root meaning "to shine."

ship

Old English

From Old English scip, tracing back to a Proto-Germanic word for a vessel, ultimately possibly linked to a root meaning "to cut" or "to hollow out" — as ships were once made from hollowed logs.

shipbuilder

Origin

From ship + builder.

shipbuilding

Origin

A straightforward compound of ship and building.

shipload

Origin

From ship + load.

shipman

Origin

From Middle English schipman, from Old English scipmann (“shipman, mariner, sailor, rower; one who goes on trading voyages; pirate”). Cognate with Icelandic skipmaður, skipamaður (“shipman”). Equivalent to ship + -man. Compare English boatman.

shipmaster

Origin

From Middle English schypmayster, schypmester, equivalent to ship + master.

shipment

Origin

Formed from ship (the verb, "to send goods") plus the noun-forming suffix -ment.

shipper

Origin

Either formed anew from ship + -er or borrowed from Middle Low German schipper; compare skipper and Old English sċipere (“sailor”). Piecewise doublet of skipper (“captain, sailor”).

shipping

Middle English

From ship plus -ing, originally meaning "to take ship" or "to equip a vessel" in Old and Middle English.

shipshape

Origin

A nautical term — sailors had to keep their cramped quarters tidy and secure against rough seas, giving rise to "shaped like (a well-kept) ship," later shortened to shipshape.

shipwreck

Old English

From Old English sċipwræc, "jetsam" — a compound of ship and wrack, later reshaped under the influence of the word wreck.

shipyard

Origin

A compound of ship and yard.

Shira

Hebrew

From Hebrew shirah, "song."

Shiraz

Persian

Named after the Iranian city of Shiraz, from Persian شیراز, long associated with winemaking history.

shire

Old English

From Old English sċīr, meaning an administrative district under an official, related to a root meaning "to care for" or "to oversee."

Shirin

Persian

From Persian shirin, "sweet."

shirk

German · 1633

First recorded around 1633, likely linked to the word shark (as in a swindler) or borrowed from German Schurke, meaning "rogue" or "knave."

Shirley

Old English

From an English place name combining Old English sċīr ("bright" or, in place names, related to shire) and lēah ("meadow"); later used as a surname and then a given name.

shiro

Origin

Possibly from Amharic or Tigrinya širo, meaning "chickpea flour."

shirt

Old English

From Old English sċyrte, "a short garment," related to German Schürze ("apron") and a doublet of skirt — both trace to a Germanic root meaning "short."

shirtfront

Origin

From shirt + front.

shirtless

Origin

From shirt plus the suffix -less, "without."

shis

Origin

Blend of she + his.

shish

Turkish

Borrowed as part of the phrase "shish kebab" from Turkish şiş, meaning "skewer."

shisha

Origin

Borrowed from Egyptian Arabic شيشة (šīša), from Ottoman Turkish شیشه şişe, from Classical Persian شیشه (šīša, “glass, mirror”).

shiss

Origin

Blend of shit + piss.

shit

Old English

From Old English sċite ("dung") and sċitte ("diarrhoea"), tracing back to a Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to split" or "separate." A doublet of the German-derived scheisse.

shitbag

Origin

From shit plus bag, modelled on the older insult scumbag.

shitcoin

English

A compound of the English vulgar term shit and coin.

shite

Old English

From Middle English shite/schite, a variant closely related to shit, both descending from Old English words for excrement.

shitfaced

Origin

From shit plus faced, an intensifying slang formation.

shithead

Origin

From shit plus head, modelled after the similar insult dickhead.

shithole

Origin

A compound of shit and hole.

shithouse

German

A compound of shit and house, with cognates in German and Scandinavian languages.

shitless

Origin

From shit plus -less, used almost exclusively in the phrase "scared shitless."

shitload

Origin

From shit plus load, an intensifying slang compound.