Where does “shoddy” come from?
Shoddy comes from Middle English shode, Old English (ġe)scād and scǣdel, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European skey- and sek-, meaning to cut or separate.
shoddy (English): Of poor quality or construction; pretentious,...
Definitions
- Of poor quality or construction; pretentious,...
Ancestry of “shoddy”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | shoad | Separation; distinction; A chasm or ravine; A... |
| 2 | Middle English | shode | — |
| 3 | Old English | ġescēad | separation, distinction, discretion,... |
| 4 | Old English | sċeādan | to separate, divide, make a line of separation between |
| 5 | Proto-West Germanic | skaiþan | to separate |
| 6 | Proto-Germanic | skaiþaną | to separate |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | skeyt- | to cut, part, separate; to cut, part, divide,... |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | skey- | to split, to dissect |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-European | sek- | to cut, cut off, sever |