scrutinyscrutiny

Scrutiny comes from Medieval Latin scrūtinium ‘a search, an inquiry’, from Late Latin scrūta ‘rubbish, broken trash’, and perhaps ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut’.

1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-¹‘to cut’uncertain
2. Late Latinc. 200–600 CEscrūta¹‘rubbish, broken trash’
3. Vulgar Latinc. 100–700 CEscrūtor¹‘to search or examine thoroughly’
4. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500scrūtinium¹‘a search, an inquiry’
5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scrutiny¹
6. Englishearliest quotation 1671scrutiny¹

1. ¹ Wiktionary, English scrutiny
2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1671, John Milton, The First Book: “Thenceforth I thought thee worth my nearer view /…”.