Etymograph

English

shadow

Shadow comes from Old English sċeadu ‘shadow, shade’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ḱeh₃-1‘darkness’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skaduz1‘shade’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skadu1reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċeadu1‘shadow’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċeaduwe1oblique form of sċeadu
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schadowe1
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590shadow1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English shadow
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto V: “In secret shadow from the sunny ray, / On…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ḱeh₃-Wiktionary, English shadow‘darkness’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skaduzWiktionary, English shadow‘shade’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skaduWiktionary, English shadowreconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċeaduWiktionary, English shadow‘shadow’
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċeaduweWiktionary, English shadowoblique form of sċeadu
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schadoweWiktionary, English shadow
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1590shadowWiktionary, English shadow. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book II, Canto V: “In secret shadow from the sunny ray, / On…”

Word family

English words that share an ancestor with shadow, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- ‘darkness’

  • scene ← sc(a)ena ← σκηνή
  • scenario ← scena ← scēna ← σκηνή
  • shame ← schame ← sċamu ← *skamu ← *skamō
  • obscure ← obscur ← obscūrus ← *scūrus ← *skoiros
  • squirrel ← squirel ← esquirel ← *scūriolus ← sciūrus
  • scenic ← scénique ← scēnicus ← scaenicus ← σκηνικός
  • scotia ← σκοτία ← σκότος ← *skh₃tos
  • hoar ← hor ← hār ← *hair ← *hairaz
  • skene ← σκηνή

through Old English sċeadu ‘shadow, shade’

32 more relatives in the full family tree

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Another origin of shadow

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ḱh₃-túsreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skaduz‘a shadow’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skadureconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċeadu
  5. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċeadwian‘to overshadow, cover with shadow’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schadowen
  7. Englishtodayshadow

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Today it means

noun A dark image projected onto a surface where light (or other radiation) is blocked by the shade of an object.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “shadow”. 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)ḱeh₃- / shadow