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
- 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
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Middle English | schrub | shrub, bush |
| 2 | Old English | sċrybb | a shrub; shrubbery; underbrush |
| 3 | Proto-West Germanic | *skrubbiju | — |
| 4 | Proto-Germanic | *skrubbijō | — |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kerb- | rough, sharp |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | sḱer- | to caw, crow |
via Arabic شِرَاب
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arabic | شِرَاب | a drink, beverage |