Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “squirrely” come from?

squirrely (English) comes from English squirrel, from Middle English squirel, from Old French escurel, from Vulgar Latin scuriolus, from Latin scūrius, from Latin sciūrus, from Ancient Greek σκίουρος, from Ancient Greek σκιά — darkness, shadow.

squirrely (English): Alternative form of squirrelly

Definitions

  1. Alternative form of squirrelly

Ancestry of “squirrely”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsquirrelAny of the rodents of the family Sciuridae...
2Middle EnglishsquirelA squirrel; A squirrel fur or hide
3Old Frenchescurelsquirrel
4Vulgar Latinscuriolus—
5Latinscūrius—
6Latinsciūrus—
7Ancient Greekσκίουροςsquirrel
8Ancient Greekσκιάshadow; shade
9Proto-Indo-European(s)ḱeh₃ih₂shadow, shade
10Proto-Indo-European(s)ḱeh₃-darkness, shadow
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)ḱeh₃- →