English
sheathe
Sheathe comes from Middle English shethen ‘to put into a sheath, sheathe’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to split, to dissect’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skey-1‘to split, to dissect’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shethen1‘to put into a sheath, sheathe’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592sheathe1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English sheathe
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew: “Nathaniels coate ſir was not fully made, / And…”.
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skey-Wiktionary, English sheathe‘to split, to dissect’root named by Wiktionary · steps between not traced
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500shethenWiktionary, English sheathe‘to put into a sheath, sheathe’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1590–1592sheatheWiktionary, English sheathe. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1590–1592, William Shakespeare, The Taming of the Shrew: “Nathaniels coate ſir was not fully made, / And…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to split, to dissect’
nice, science, equipment, scientific, ship, shift, skip, conscious, kyle, ski, shed, shin, squire, skeet, scuttle, prescient, skiff, chine, skein, scullery, shud, 43 more
Today it means
verb To put (something such as a knife or sword) into a sheath.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “sheathe”. 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 *skey- / sheathe