Etymograph

English

skerry

Skerry comes from Old Norse sker ‘rock in the sea, skerry’, and goes back to 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*skarją2reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350sker1‘rock in the sea, skerry’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1805skerry1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English skerry
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Old Norse sker
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1805, George Barry, History of the Orkney Islands: “The Seal (phoca vitulina, Lin. Syft.) which is here…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)ker-Wiktionary, English skerry‘to cut off, sever’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skarjąWiktionary, Old Norse skerreconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350skerWiktionary, English skerry‘rock in the sea, skerry’
  4. Englishearliest quotation 1805skerryWiktionary, English skerry. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1805, George Barry, History of the Orkney Islands: “The Seal (phoca vitulina, Lin. Syft.) which is here…”

Linked words

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

short, across, share, card, cross, screen, score, cancer, shirt, circle, circuit, crucial, curve, scare, circus, circulation, carnival, curb, cancellation, scrutiny, shrine, skirt, scarf, crest, circa, corona, shear, scorpion, shred, carnage, incarceration, raffle, circulate, carcinoma, corolla, scorn, shrewd, crux, shard, carnal, 117 more

through Old Norse sker ‘rock in the sea, skerry’

scar

Today it means

noun A small rocky island which may be covered by the sea at high tide or during storms.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “skerry”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Old Norse sker. 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- / skerry

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