Etymograph

English

schmutter

Schmutter comes from Yiddish שמאַטע ‘rag’, and goes back to Polish szmata.

  1. Polishmodernszmata1‘rag (cloth)’
  2. Yiddishmodernשמאַטע2shmate‘rag’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2000schmutter2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Yiddish שמאַטע
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English schmutter
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes: “‘Has something worried you – the business at the…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. PolishmodernszmataWiktionary, Yiddish שמאַטע‘rag (cloth)’
  2. YiddishmodernשמאַטעWiktionary, English schmuttershmate‘rag’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2000schmutterWiktionary, English schmutter. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2000, JG Ballard, Super-Cannes: “‘Has something worried you – the business at the…”

Every English word from Polish szmata

Today it means

noun Clothing.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “schmutter”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Yiddish שמאַטע. 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 / Polish szmata / schmutter

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