Etymograph

English

shilling

Shilling may come from Middle English schilling ‘a shilling or other silver coin, the value of…’.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schilling1‘a shilling or other silver coin, the value of that coin’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1909shilling1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English shilling
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1909, United States Bureau of the Mint, Annual Report of the Director of the Mint: “The smaller silver coins of Europe, such as the…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schillingWiktionary, English shilling‘a shilling or other silver coin, the value of that coin’uncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1909shillingWiktionary, English shilling. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1909, United States Bureau of the Mint, Annual Report of the Director of the Mint: “The smaller silver coins of Europe, such as the…”

Formed from skill + -ing

Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ‘to split’

Proto-Germanic *skilją ‘separation’

Old Norse skil ‘a distinction’

Middle English skill

English skill

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ‘to cut, separate’

half, skill, shell, shield, skull, shale, halter, shoal, halve, shelve, hapa, 13 more

through Proto-Germanic *skillingaz ‘shilling (coin)’

schilling, schelling, skilling

Today it means

noun A coin formerly used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, Australia, New Zealand and many other Commonwealth countries worth twelve old pence, or one twentieth of a pound sterling.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “shilling”. 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 / Middle English schilling / shilling

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