Etymograph

English

shallow

Shallow comes from Middle English schalowe ‘not deep, shallow’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelh₁- ‘to parch, wither’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kelh₁-1‘to parch, wither’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schalowe1‘not deep, shallow’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1622shallow1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English shallow
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam: “The king was neither so shallow, nor so ill…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kelh₁-Wiktionary, English shallow‘to parch, wither’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
  2. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schaloweWiktionary, English shallow‘not deep, shallow’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1622shallowWiktionary, English shallow. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1622, Francis, Lord Verulam: “The king was neither so shallow, nor so ill…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelh₁- ‘to parch, wither’

skeleton, sclerosis, shoal, sclera, 5 more

Today it means

adj Having little depth; significantly less deep than wide.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “shallow”. 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)kelh₁- / shallow

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