Where does “skein” come from?
Skein comes from Middle English skeyne, from Old French escaigne, of unknown ultimate origin.
skein (English): A quantity of yarn, thread, or the like, put up...
Definitions
- A quantity of yarn, thread, or the like, put up...
Ancestry of “skein”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Dutch | scheen | shin; strip of wood or metal |
| 2 | Middle Dutch | schene | — |
| 3 | Old Dutch | skina | — |
| 4 | Proto-West Germanic | skinu | bar, track; shin, spine |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | skinō | plate; rim; piece; shinbone |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | skey- | to split, to dissect |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | sek- | to cut, cut off, sever |
Words derived from “skein”