Where does “unskilled” come from?
Unskilled derives from English skilled, which comes from English skill, traced through Proto-Indo-European óynos, ano-, ne, and h₂ent-, with roots reflecting separation or distinction.
unskilled (English): Of a person or workforce: not having a skill or...
Definitions
- Of a person or workforce: not having a skill or...
Ancestry of “unskilled”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | English | skilled | Having or showing skill; skillful; Requiring... |
| 2 | English | skill | Capacity to do something well; technique,... |
| 3 | Middle English | skill | — |
| 4 | Old Norse | skil | a distinction, discernment, knowledge |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | skilją | separation, limit |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kelH- | to cut; to split, to separate |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | (s)kel- | to bend, crook; bent, crooked; leg, heel, knee,... |