Etymograph

English

skilly

Skilly comes from Middle English skylly.

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500skylly1
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1932skilly1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English skilly
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song (A Scots Quair): “So, being a fell impatient man, and skilly with…”.

Lineage

  1. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500skyllyWiktionary, English skilly
  2. Englishearliest quotation 1932skillyWiktionary, English skilly. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1932, Lewis Grassic Gibbon, Sunset Song (A Scots Quair): “So, being a fell impatient man, and skilly with…”

Formed from skill + -y

Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- ‘to split’

Proto-Germanic *skilją ‘separation’

Old Norse skil ‘a distinction’

Middle English skill

English skill

Every English word from Middle English skylly

Today it means

adj Skilled, skilful.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “skilly”. 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 / Middle English skylly / skilly

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