"S" Word Origins

showdown

Origin

From show + down.

shower

Old English

From Old English sċūr ("shower"), from a Proto-Germanic root probably linked to words for cold north winds.

showgirl

Origin

From show + girl.

showing

Old English

From Old English sceawung, "a looking at or examination," from the same root as show.

showman

Origin

From show + man.

showmanship

Origin

From showman + -ship.

shown

Middle English

From Middle English schauen, schewen (past participle), alternative form of schawid, schewed, past participle of Middle English schewen (“to show”). Morphologically equivalent to show + -n.

showpiece

Origin

From show + piece.

showroom

Origin · 2011

From show + room; the verb sense dates from around 2011, describing a shopping habit enabled by smartphones.

showstopper

Origin

From show + stopper.

showstopping

Origin

From show + stopping.

showtime

Origin

From show + time.

showy

Origin

From show + -y.

shrank

German

From Pennsylvania German, related to the German word Schrank ("cupboard, wardrobe").

shrapnel

Origin · 1761

Named after British army officer Henry Shrapnel (1761-1842), who invented an artillery shell designed to scatter bullets over a wide area before impact.

shred

Old English

From Old English screade ("a piece cut off"), related to Proto-Germanic roots meaning "to cut."

shredder

Origin

From shred + -er.

Shrek

Yiddish · 1990

From the ogre character Shrek, created by author William Steig for his 1990 picture book and made globally famous by the DreamWorks film franchise; the name itself comes from the Yiddish word for "fright."

shrew

Old English

From Old English screawa ("shrew"), ultimately from a root meaning "thin" or "small."

shrewd

Middle English

From Middle English schrewed ("wicked, depraved"); the meaning softened over centuries from "malicious" to "cunning" to today's more approving "sharp-witted."

Shrewsbury

Old English

From Old English Sċrobbesburh (literally “fort in the scrubland region”), from *sċrob (“shrub, scrub”) + burh. Compare Shropshire from Sċrobbesċīr, short form of Sċrobbesbyriġ sċīr (literally “shire of Shrewsbury”).

Shreya

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Sanskrit श्रेया (śreyā).

Shri

Sanskrit

Borrowed from Sanskrit shri, meaning splendour or sacred fortune, and used across many South Asian languages as a mark of respect.

shriek

Swedish

From earlier English "shrick," related to Scandinavian words like Swedish skrika, ultimately imitative of the sound itself.

shrieking

Origin

From shriek + -ing.

shrill

Middle English

From Middle English schrille, likely of Germanic origin, probably imitative of the sound.

shrimati

Origin

From Sanskrit श्रीमती (śrīmatī), feminine form of श्रीमत् (śrīmat).

shrimp

Middle English

From Middle English schrimpe ("shrimp, puny person"), of Germanic origin related to words for "shrivel" or "shrink."

shrine

Latin

From Old English scrin, from Latin scrinium ("a case for books or papers"), later narrowed to mean a container for sacred relics.

shrink

Old English

From Old English scrincan ("to shrink, wither"); the "psychiatrist" sense is a shortening of "headshrinker."

shrinking

Origin

From shrink + -ing.

shrive

Origin

From Middle English schryven, from Old English sċrīfan (“1. to decree, pass judgement, prescribe, 3. (of a priest) to prescribe penance or absolution”), from Proto-West Germanic *skrīban, from late Proto-Germanic *skrībaną, a borrowing from Latin scrībō (“write”). Compare West Frisian skriuwe (“to write”), Low German schrieven (“to write”), Dutch schrijven (“to write”), German schreiben (“to write”), Danish, Norwegian Bokmål, and Norwegian Nynorsk skrive (“to write”), Swedish skriva (“to write”), Icelandic skrifa (“to write”). More at scribe and scribble.

shrivel

Germanic

Probably of North Germanic origin, related to a Swedish dialect word for "wrinkle," and connected to the same root as shrink.

shrivelled

Origin

Equivalent to shrivel + -ed.

Shropshire

Old English

Named after the English county of Shropshire, from Old English Scrobbesbyrigscir.

shroud

Old English

From Old English scrud, related to Old Norse skrúð ("ship's rigging" or "splendid attire").

shrouded

Origin

From shroud + -ed.

shrub

Old English

From Old English scrybb ("shrub, underbrush").

shrubbery

Origin

From shrub + -ery.

shrubland

Origin

From shrub + land.

shrug

Middle English

From Middle English schruggen, probably of North Germanic origin, related to words meaning "to stoop or crouch."

shruti

Sanskrit

From Sanskrit shruti, meaning "that which is heard."

shtick

Yiddish

Borrowed from Yiddish shtik, meaning "a piece" or "an act."

Shu

Origin

Borrowed from Egyptian šw (“Shu”, literally “Emptiness”), a derivative of the verb šwj (“to be empty, devoid of”).

shuck

Origin

Origin uncertain, possibly from an old dialect word related to "shell."

shucks

Origin

From "shuck," originally something considered worthless.

shudder

Middle English

From Middle English schoderen, related to Dutch and German words meaning "to shake."

shuffle

Origin

Related to "scuffle," originally a form of "shove."