Etymograph

English

skift

Skift comes from Scots skift ‘light shower of rain or snow’.

  1. Scotsc. 1450–presentskift1‘light shower of rain or snow’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1834skift1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English skift
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, record quoted in 1956, Norman E. Eliason: “Last night we had a little skift of snow.”.

Lineage

  1. Scotsc. 1450–presentskiftWiktionary, English skift‘light shower of rain or snow’
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1834skiftWiktionary, English skift. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1834, record quoted in 1956, Norman E. Eliason: “Last night we had a little skift of snow.”

Every English word from Scots skift

Today it means

noun Synonym of skiff (“light shower of rain or snow; light dusting of snow or ice (on ground, water, etc)”).

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “skift”. 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 / Scots skift / skift

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