Where does “sheepskin” come from?
Sheepskin comes from Middle English shepskin, from Old English sċēap (sheep) and skinn (skin), ultimately from Proto-Germanic skēpą and skīnnan, tracing to Proto-Indo-European roots for animal pelts and splitting.
sheepskin (English): The skin of a sheep, especially when used to make...
Definitions
- The skin of a sheep, especially when used to make...
Ancestry of “sheepskin”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | sheep | A woolly ruminant of the genus "Ovis"; A timid,... |
| 2 | Middle English | sheep | sheep |
| 3 | Old English | sċēap | sheep |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | skāp | sheep |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | skapą | shape |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | skapjaną | to make, to create; to shape |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | skab- | to cut, split, hew, shape; to cut, split, carve,... |