Etymograph

English

scrub

Scrub comes from Old English scrybb ‘underbrush’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerb- ‘to be sharp’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kerb-1‘to be sharp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrubbijō1reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skrubbiju1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150scrybb2‘underbrush’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shrobbe2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1678scrub2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Old English scrybb
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English scrub
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1678, John Bunyan: “A sorry scrub, said Mr. High-mind.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kerb-Wiktionary, Old English scrybb‘to be sharp’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrubbijōWiktionary, Old English scrybbreconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skrubbijuWiktionary, Old English scrybbreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150scrybbWiktionary, English scrub‘underbrush’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shrobbeWiktionary, English scrub
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1678scrubWiktionary, English scrub. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1678, John Bunyan: “A sorry scrub, said Mr. High-mind.”

The story

Late Middle English shrobbe in the sense of "stunted tree," a variant of shrub, from Old English scrybb.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerb- ‘to be sharp’

sharp, 5 more

Another origin of scrub

  1. Middle Dutchc. 1150–1500schrobben‘clean by scrubbing’
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scrobben‘groom a horse with a currycomb’
  3. Englishtodayscrub

Today it means

adj Mean; dirty; contemptible; scrubby.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “scrub”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old English scrybb. 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)kerb- / scrub

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