Etymograph

English

shoe

Shoe comes from Middle English scho ‘a shoe’, and goes back to Proto-Germanic *skōhaz.

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skōhaz1reconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skōh1reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċōh1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500scho1‘a shoe’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1806shoe1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English shoe
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1806, Lawrence Dundas Campbell, E. Samuel: “The finest gold among them is 100 touch, called…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skōhazWiktionary, English shoereconstructed
  2. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skōhWiktionary, English shoereconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċōhWiktionary, English shoe
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schoWiktionary, English shoe‘a shoe’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1806shoeWiktionary, English shoe. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1806, Lawrence Dundas Campbell, E. Samuel: “The finest gold among them is 100 touch, called…”

The story

Eclipsed non-native Middle English sabatine, sabatoun (‘shoe’) from Medieval Latin sabatēnum, sabatum (‘shoe, slipper’) (compare Old Occitan sabatō, Spanish zapato (‘shoe’), French sabot (‘wooden shoe, clog’), Italian ciabatta). The archaic plural shoon is from Middle English shon, from Old English scōn, scōum (“shoes”, dative plural) and scōna (“shoes'”, genitive plural); it is cognate with Scots shuin (‘shoes’).

Full etymology on Wiktionary

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *skek- ‘to move quickly, jump’

shake, shock, 3 more

through Proto-Germanic *skehaną ‘to move quickly’

chic, 3 more

through Middle English scho ‘a shoe’

shoo, 1 more

Today it means

noun A protective covering for the foot, with a bottom part composed of thick leather or plastic sole and often a thicker heel, and a softer upper part made of leather or synthetic material. Shoes generally do not extend above the ankle, as opposed to boots, which do.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “shoe”. 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-Germanic *skōhaz / shoe

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