skei-

To cut, split. Extension of sek-.

Derivatives include science, nice, shit, schism, sheath, ski, and esquire.

1.

a. shin¹, from Old English scinu, shin, shinbone (< “piece cut off”);

b. chine, from Old French eschine, backbone, piece of meat with part of the backbone. Both a and b from Germanic suffixed form *ski-nō-.

2. science, scilicet, sciolism; adscititious, conscience, conscious, nescience, nice, omniscient, plebiscite, prescient, from Latin scīre, to know (< “to separate one thing from another,” “discern.”)

3. Suffixed zero-grade form *skiy-enā-. skean, from Old Irish scīan, knife.

4. Extended root *skeid-.

a.

(i) shit; gobshite, from Old English *scītan, to defecate;

(ii) skate³; blatherskite, from Old Norse skīta, to defecate;

(iii) shyster, from Old High German skīzzan, to defecate. (i)-(iii) all from Germanic *skītan, to separate, defecate;

b. suffixed zero-grade form *sk(h)id-yo-. schism, schist, schizo-, from Greek skhizein, to split;

c. nasalized zero-grade form *ski-n-d-. scission; exscind, prescind, rescind, from Latin scindere, to split.

5. Extended root *skeit-.

a.

(i) shed¹, from Old English scēadan, to separate, from Germanic *skaith-, *skaidan;

(ii) sheath, from Old English scēath, sheath (< “split stick”), perhaps from Germanic *skaith-;

b. ski, from Old Norse skīdh, log, stick, snowshoe, from Germanic *skīdam;

c. o-grade form *skoit-. écu, escudo, escutcheon, esquire, scudo, scutum, squire, from Latin scūtum, shield (< “board”).

6. Extended root *skeip-.

a. sheave², from Middle English sheve, pulley (< “piece of wood with grooves”);

b. skive, from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse skīfa, to slice, split;

c. shiver², from Middle English shivere, scivre, splinter, possibly from a Low German source akin to Middle Low German schever, splinter. a-c all from Germanic *skif-.

 

[Pokorny skē̆i- 919.]

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