Etymograph

English

shedder

Shedder comes from Middle English schedere ‘killer’, from scheden ‘to part or comb (hair)’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skeyt-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skeyt-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skaiþaną1‘to separate’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skaiþan1‘to separate’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150scēadan1‘to separate, divide, make a line of separation between’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scheden2‘to part or comb (hair)’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schedere3‘killer’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1924shedder3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle English scheden
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English schedere
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English shedder
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1924, Herbert Weir Smyth, VIII. Orestea. III: Eumenides: “At first, and in their altercation with the god,…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skeyt-Wiktionary, Middle English schedenreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skaiþanąWiktionary, Middle English scheden‘to separate’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skaiþanWiktionary, Middle English scheden‘to separate’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150scēadanWiktionary, Middle English scheden‘to separate, divide, make a line of separation between’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schedenWiktionary, Middle English schedere‘to part or comb (hair)’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schedereWiktionary, English shedder‘killer’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1924shedderWiktionary, English shedder. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1924, Herbert Weir Smyth, VIII. Orestea. III: Eumenides: “At first, and in their altercation with the god,…”

Formed from shed + -er

Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to split, to dissect’

…

Proto-Germanic *skaiþaną ‘to separate’

Proto-West Germanic *skaiþan ‘to separate’

Old English scēadan ‘to separate, divide, make a line of…’

Middle English scheden ‘to part or comb (hair)’

English shed

Linked words

through Proto-Germanic *skaiþaną ‘to separate’

skeet, 2 more

Today it means

noun A crab in the act of casting its shell, or immediately afterwards while still soft.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “shedder”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Middle English scheden, Middle English schedere. 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 *skeyt- / shedder

Shirt and support for this word