Etymograph

English

scarify

Scarify comes from French scarifier ‘to scarify’, from Ancient Greek σκαριφᾶσθαι ‘scratch’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreybʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kreybʰ-1‘to scratch, to tear’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκάριφος2skáriphos‘writing, drawing, sketching’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκαριφᾶσθαι2skariphâsthai‘scratch’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscarifāre2‘to scarify’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEscarificāre2
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400scarifier3
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentscarifier2‘to scarify’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2008scarify2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σκάριφος
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English scarify
  3. 3 Wiktionary, French scarifier
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2008, Neil Cicierega, Modify: “Stan tried to scarify his neck with a rope…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kreybʰ-Wiktionary, Ancient Greek σκάριφος‘to scratch, to tear’reconstructed
  2. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκάριφοςWiktionary, English scarifyskáriphos‘writing, drawing, sketching’
  3. Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEσκαριφᾶσθαιWiktionary, English scarifyskariphâsthai‘scratch’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEscarifāreWiktionary, English scarify‘to scarify’
  5. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEscarificāreWiktionary, English scarify
  6. Old Frenchc. 842–1400scarifierWiktionary, French scarifier
  7. Frenchc. 1600–presentscarifierWiktionary, English scarify‘to scarify’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 2008scarifyWiktionary, English scarify. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2008, Neil Cicierega, Modify: “Stan tried to scarify his neck with a rope…”

The story

Unrelated to scar.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kreybʰ- ‘to scratch, to tear’

prescribe, scribe, scribble, shrift, 2 more

Today it means

verb To remove thatch (build-up of organic matter on the soil) from a lawn, to dethatch.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “scarify”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Ancient Greek σκάριφος, French scarifier. 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 *(s)kreybʰ- / scarify

Shirt and support for this word