Etymograph

English

skite

Skite comes from Middle English skit ‘Diarrhoea’, from Proto-Germanic *skitiz ‘excrement’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skeyd- ‘to split, to divide’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skeyd-1‘to split, to divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skéydt1‘to cut off’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skītaną2‘to shit’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skitiz3‘excrement’reconstructed
  5. Old Norsec. 800–1350*skitr3reconstructed
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500skit3‘Diarrhoea’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1958skite3

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *skītaną, which cites Orel, Kroonen
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *skitiz
  3. 3 Wiktionary, English skite
  4. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1958, George Desmond Hodnett, Monto (Take Her Up to Monto): “When Carey told on Skin-the-Goat / O'Donnell caught him…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skeyd-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *skītaną, which cites Orel, Kroonen‘to split, to divide’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skéydtWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *skītaną, which cites Orel, Kroonen‘to cut off’reconstructed
  3. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skītanąWiktionary, Proto-Germanic *skitiz‘to shit’reconstructed
  4. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skitizWiktionary, English skite‘excrement’reconstructed
  5. Old Norsec. 800–1350*skitrWiktionary, English skitereconstructed
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500skitWiktionary, English skite‘Diarrhoea’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1958skiteWiktionary, English skite. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1958, George Desmond Hodnett, Monto (Take Her Up to Monto): “When Carey told on Skin-the-Goat / O'Donnell caught him…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *skeyd- ‘to split, to divide’

schedule, zest, schism, rescind, schist, rescission, 23 more

through Proto-Germanic *skītaną ‘to shit’

shit, 4 more

Another origin of skite

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)kewd-‘to advance, push’uncertain
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skeutaną‘to shoot, dash’reconstructed
  3. Old Norsec. 800–1350skjóta‘to shoot’
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500*skitenreconstructed
  5. Englishtodayskite

Today it means

noun A contemptible person.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “skite”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entries for Proto-Germanic *skītaną, Proto-Germanic *skitiz. 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 *skeyd- / skite

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