English
scandalize
Scandalize comes from Latin scandalizō ‘to cause to stumble’, from Ancient Greek σκᾰ́νδᾰλον ‘trap, snare’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skend- ‘to jump’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skend-1‘to jump’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκᾰ́νδᾰλον2‘trap, snare’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκανδαλίζω3skandalízō‘to snare, cause to stumble’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscandalizō3‘to cause to stumble’
- Englishearliest quotation 1881scandalize3
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σκάνδαλον, which cites Beekes
- 2 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σκανδαλίζω
- 3 Wiktionary, English scandalize
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1881, Thomas à Kempis; Thomas Thellusson Carte, The Valley of Lilies: “Woe to thee who art often wandering abroad, and…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skend-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σκάνδαλον, which cites Beekes‘to jump’uncertain
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκᾰ́νδᾰλονWiktionary, Ancient Greek σκανδαλίζω‘trap, snare’
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκανδαλίζωWiktionary, English scandalizeskandalízō‘to snare, cause to stumble’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscandalizōWiktionary, English scandalize‘to cause to stumble’
- Englishearliest quotation 1881scandalizeWiktionary, English scandalize. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1881, Thomas à Kempis; Thomas Thellusson Carte, The Valley of Lilies: “Woe to thee who art often wandering abroad, and…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *skend- ‘to jump’
scale, ascension, descend, slander, echelon, escalator, scala, skein, ascendant, 13 more
Today it means
verb To cause great offense to (someone); to shock with something scandalous.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “scandalize”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek σκάνδαλον, Ancient Greek σκανδαλίζω. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *skend- / scandalize