Where does “skew” come from?

skew (Middle English) comes from Old French escu, from Latin scūtum, from Proto-Indo-European skei-, from Proto-Indo-European sek- — to cut, cut off, sever.

skew (Middle English): sky, air; cloud; A segment of carved stone to...

Definitions

  1. sky, air; cloud; A segment of carved stone to...

Ancestry of “skew”, step by step

skew traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Old French escu

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old FrenchescuAlternative form of escut; shield
2Latinscūtuma type of shield: the scutum, the large oblong wooden shield carried by the Roman infantry
3Proto-Indo-Europeanskei-to cut, to divide, to separate; to cut, split; to...
4Proto-Indo-Europeansek-to cut, cut off, sever

via Old Norse ský

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Norseskýcloud
2Proto-Germanicskiwjącloud; sky
3Proto-Indo-European(s)kewH-to cover, bedeck; cover

Words derived from “skew

Every word from Proto-Indo-European sek-Every word from Proto-Indo-European skei-Every word from Latin scūtum