Etymograph

English

shoulder

Shoulder comes from Middle English schuldre ‘the shoulder’, and goes back to Proto-West Germanic *skuldru.

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skuldru1reconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċuldra1
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schuldre1‘the shoulder’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1590shoulder1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English shoulder
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto XI: “[…]As they the earth would ſhoulder from her ſeat,[…]”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skuldruWiktionary, English shoulderreconstructed
  2. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċuldraWiktionary, English shoulder
  3. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schuldreWiktionary, English shoulder‘the shoulder’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1590shoulderWiktionary, English shoulder. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto XI: “[…]As they the earth would ſhoulder from her ſeat,[…]”

The story

Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skelduz (‘shield’), see shield.

Full etymology on Wiktionary

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Today it means

noun The part of the human torso forming a relatively horizontal surface running away from the neck.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “shoulder”. 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-West Germanic *skuldru / shoulder