Etymograph

English

skyf

Skyf comes from Afrikaans skyf ‘a slice’, from Dutch schijf ‘disk’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to split’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skey-1‘to split’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skībǭ2‘disk’reconstructed
  3. Dutchc. 1500–presentschijf2‘disk’
  4. Afrikaansmodernskyf2‘a slice’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2004skyf2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *skībǭ
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English skyf
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2004, A. K. Thembeka, Laduma: “Laduma rolls himself a skyf. It's cheap Swazi and…”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*skey-Wiktionary, Proto-Germanic *skībǭ‘to split’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Germanicc. 500 BCE–200 CE*skībǭWiktionary, English skyf‘disk’reconstructed
  3. Dutchc. 1500–presentschijfWiktionary, English skyf‘disk’
  4. AfrikaansmodernskyfWiktionary, English skyf‘a slice’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 2004skyfWiktionary, English skyf. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 2004, A. K. Thembeka, Laduma: “Laduma rolls himself a skyf. It's cheap Swazi and…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *skey- ‘to split’

nice, science, ship, equipment, scientific, shift, shed, conscious, skip, kyle, shin, ski, squire, sheath, scuttle, prescient, chine, skeet, skiff, scullery, shud, skein, 42 more

Today it means

noun A cigarette.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “skyf”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Proto-Germanic *skībǭ. 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 *skey- / skyf

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