Etymology Explorer › Old Norse

Where does “skin” come from?

skin (Old Norse) comes from Old Norse skína, from Proto-Germanic skīnaną, from Proto-Indo-European (s)ḱeh₁y- — to shine, shimmer.

skin (Old Norse): shine

Definitions

  1. shine

Ancestry of “skin”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Norseskínato shine
2Proto-Germanicskīnanąto shine; to appear
3Proto-Indo-European(s)ḱeh₁y-to shine, shimmer

Words derived from “skin”

  • tunglskin
  • sken
  • skenjol
Every word from Proto-Indo-European (s)ḱeh₁y- →