Etymograph

English

shoving

Shoving comes from Middle English schouven ‘to shove, push’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *skewbʰ-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skewbʰ-1reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skeubaną2‘to push, drive’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skeuban2‘to push, to drive’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċūfan2‘to push, shove’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schouven3‘to shove, push’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schouvynge4as schovynge
  7. Englishtodayshoving4

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *skeubaną
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English schouven
  3. 3 Wiktionary, Middle English schouvynge
  4. 4 Wiktionary, English shoving

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skewbʰ-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *skeubanąreconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skeubanąWiktionary, Middle English schouven‘to push, drive’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skeubanWiktionary, Middle English schouven‘to push, to drive’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċūfanWiktionary, Middle English schouven‘to push, shove’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schouvenWiktionary, Middle English schouvynge‘to shove, push’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schouvyngeWiktionary, English shovingas schovynge
  7. EnglishtodayshovingWiktionary, English shoving

Formed from shove + -ing

Proto-Indo-European *skewbʰ-

Proto-Germanic *skeubaną ‘to push, drive’

Proto-West Germanic *skeuban ‘to push, to drive’

Old English sċūfan ‘to push, shove’

Middle English schouven ‘to shove’

English shove

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *skewbʰ-

shy, cuff, 3 more

through Proto-West Germanic *skeuban ‘to push, to drive’

shill

through Middle English schouven ‘to shove, push’

shove

Today it means

verb The act of one who shoves.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “shoving”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *skeubaną, Middle English schouven, Middle English schouvynge. 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 *skewbʰ- / shoving

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