Etymograph

English

shrewdly

Shrewdly comes from Middle English schrewedly ‘wickedly, harshly’, from schrewe ‘scoundrel’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- ‘to cut off, sever’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-1‘to cut off, sever’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrawwaz1‘a malevolent creature or spirit’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skrauwō1‘a malicious or malevolent creature’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċrēawa1‘shrew’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schrewe2‘scoundrel’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schrewed3‘Demonic, wicked’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schrewedly3‘wickedly, harshly’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1913shrewdly3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Middle English schrewe
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Middle English schrewed
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English shrewdly
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1913, Mrs. Marie Belloc Lowndes, London: Methuen: “Thanks to that penny he had just spent so…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-Wiktionary, Middle English schrewe‘to cut off, sever’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skrawwazWiktionary, Middle English schrewe‘a malevolent creature or spirit’reconstructed
  3. Proto-West Germanicc. 200–500 CE*skrauwōWiktionary, Middle English schrewe‘a malicious or malevolent creature’reconstructed
  4. Old Englishc. 450–1150sċrēawaWiktionary, Middle English schrewe‘shrew’
  5. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schreweWiktionary, Middle English schrewed‘scoundrel’
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schrewedWiktionary, English shrewdly‘Demonic, wicked’
  7. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500schrewedlyWiktionary, English shrewdly‘wickedly, harshly’
  8. Englishearliest quotation 1913shrewdlyWiktionary, English shrewdly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1913, Mrs. Marie Belloc Lowndes, London: Methuen: “Thanks to that penny he had just spent so…”

Linked words

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

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

Today it means

adv In a shrewd manner.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “shrewdly”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Middle English schrewe, Middle English schrewed. 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- / shrewdly

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