Where does “shell” come from?
Shell comes from Middle English schelle, from Old English sċiell, from Proto-West Germanic skallju, from Proto-Germanic skaljō, from Proto-Indo-European (s)kelH-, which derives from Proto-Indo-European (s)kel-.
shell (English): A hard external covering of an animal; The hard...
Definitions
- A hard external covering of an animal; The hard...
Ancestry of “shell”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle English | schelle | — |
| 2 | Old English | sċiell | — |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | skallju | scale; shell |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | skaljō | shell; husk; rind; peel |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kelH- | to cut; to split, to separate |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kel- | to bend, crook; bent, crooked; leg, heel, knee,... |
Words derived from “shell”