Where does “shrub” come from?

Shrub comes from Old English sċrybb, from Arabic شِرَاب, originally meaning a drink or beverage.

shrub (English): A woody plant smaller than a tree, and usually...

Definitions

  1. A woody plant smaller than a tree, and usually...

Ancestry of “shrub”, step by step

shrub traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Middle English schrub

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Middle Englishschrubshrub, bush
2Old Englishsċrybba shrub; shrubbery; underbrush
3Proto-West Germanic*skrubbiju—
4Proto-Germanic*skrubbijō—
5Proto-Indo-European(s)kerb-rough, sharp
6Proto-Indo-Europeansḱer-to caw, crow

via Arabic شِرَاب

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Arabicشِرَابa drink, beverage

Words derived from “shrub”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European sḱer- →Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)kerb- →Every word from Proto-Germanic *skrubbijō →