Etymograph

English

shrew

Shrew comes from Middle English schrewe ‘a scoundrel or villain’, from Proto-Germanic *skrawwaz ‘thin’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-1‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrawwaz1‘thin’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċrēawa1
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schrewe1‘a scoundrel or villain’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1863shrew1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English shrew
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu: “The clerk had, I'm afraid, a shrew of a…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-Wiktionary, English shrew‘to cut’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrawwazWiktionary, English shrew‘thin’reconstructed
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċrēawaWiktionary, English shrew
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schreweWiktionary, English shrew‘a scoundrel or villain’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1863shrewWiktionary, English shrew. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1863, Sheridan Le Fanu: “The clerk had, I'm afraid, a shrew of a…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut’

across, card, short, cross, cancer, share, screen, circle, score, circuit, shirt, crucial, curve, circus, circulation, skirt, carnival, curb, scare, scar, cancellation, scrutiny, circa, corona, scorpion, incarceration, crest, carnage, shrine, raffle, circulate, carcinoma, corolla, scorn, shear, crux, carnal, cirque, riddance, circulatory, 118 more

Today it means

noun Any of numerous small, mouselike, chiefly nocturnal, mammals of the family Soricidae.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “shrew”. 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 *(s)ker- / shrew

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