Where does “sharpen” come from?
Sharpen comes from Middle English scharpenen, meaning to make sharp or keen.
sharpen (English): To make sharp; To become sharp
Definitions
- To make sharp; To become sharp
Ancestry of “sharpen”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | sharp | Terminating in a point or edge, especially one... |
| 2 | Middle English | scharp | sharp |
| 3 | Old English | sċearp | sharp |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | skarp | sharp |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | skarpaz | rough |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kerb- | rough, sharp |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | sḱer- | to caw, crow |
Words derived from “sharpen”