Online Etymology Dictionary

scalp (v.): "to cut off (someone's) scalp," 1670s, from scalp (n.), originally in reference to North American Indians. For ticket sense, see scalper. Related: Scalped; scalping.
scalpel (n.): 1742, from Latin scalpellum, diminutive of scalprum "knife, chisel, tool for scraping or cutting," from scalpere "to carve, cut," related to sculpere "to carve," from PIE root *(s)kel- "to cut, cleave" (see sculpture).
scalper (n.): "person who re-sells tickets at unauthorized prices for a profit," 1869, American English; earliest reference is to theater tickets, but often used late 19c. of brokers who sold unused portions of railway tickets. [Railways charged less per mile for longer-distance tickets; therefore someone travelling from New York to Chicago could buy a ticket all the way to San Francisco, get out at Chicago and sell it to a scalper, and come away with more money than he would if he had bought a ticket to Chicago; the Chicago scalper would hold the ticket till he found someone looking for a ticket to San Francisco.] Perhaps from scalp (v.); scalper was a generic term for "con man, cheater" in late 19c. Or perhaps the connecting sense is the bounty offered for scalps of certain destructive animals (attested in New England from 1703) and sometimes Indians (i.e., having only part of something, but still getting paid). Some, though, see a connection rather to scalpel, the surgical instrument.
scaly (adj.): also scaley, 1520s, from scale (n.1) + -y (2). Related: Scaliness.
scam: 1963, noun and verb, U.S. slang, a carnival term, of unknown origin. Perhaps related to 19c. British slang scamp "cheater, swindler" (see scamp (n.)).
scamp (n.): 1782, "highway robber," probably from dialectal verb scamp "to roam" (1753), shortened from scamper. Used affectionately in sense "rascal" since 1808.
scamp (v.): "do in a hasty manner," 1837, perhaps from a Scandinavian source (cf. Old Norse skemma "to shorten," from skammr "short"), or a blend of scant and skimp. Related: Scamped; scamping.
scamper (v.): "to run quickly," 1680s, probably from Flemish schampeeren, frequentative of schampen "run away," from Old North French escamper (Old French eschamper) "to run away, flee," from Vulgar Latin *excampare "decamp," literally "leave the field," from Latin ex campo, from ex "out of" + campo, ablative of campus "field" (see campus). A vogue word late 17c. Related: Scampered; scampering.
scampi (n.): 1930, plural of Italian scampo "prawn," ultimately from Greek kampe "a bending, a winding," from PIE root *kamp- "to bend."
scan (v.): late 14c., "mark off verse in metric feet," from Late Latin scandere "to scan verse," originally, in classical Latin, "to climb" (the connecting notion is of the rising and falling rhythm of poetry), from PIE *skand- "to spring, leap" (cf. Sanskrit skandati "hastens, leaps, jumps;" Greek skandalon "stumbling block;" Middle Irish sescaind "he sprang, jumped," sceinm "a bound, jump"). Missing -d in English is probably from confusion with suffix -ed (see lawn (n.1)). Sense of "look at closely, examine" first recorded 1540s. The (opposite) sense of "look over quickly, skim" is first attested 1926. The noun is recorded from 1706.
scandal (n.): 1580s, "discredit caused by irreligious conduct," from Middle French scandale, from Late Latin scandalum "cause for offense, stumbling block, temptation," from Greek skandalon "a trap or snare laid for an enemy," in New Testament, metaphorically as "a stumbling block, offense;" originally "trap with a springing device," from PIE *skand- "jump" (cf. Greek skandalizein "to make to stumble, give offense to" someone; see scan; cf. also slander). Attested from early 13c., but the modern word is a reborrowing. Meaning "malicious gossip" is from 1590s; sense of "person whose conduct is a disgrace" is from 1630s. Scandal sheet "sensational newspaper" is from 1939.
scandalize (v.): late 15c.; see scandal + -ize. Originally "make a public scandal of;" sense of "shock by doing something improper" first recorded 1640s. Related: Scandalized; scandalizing.
scandalous (adj.): 1590s, from French scandaleux, from Medieval Latin scandalosus, from Church Latin scandalum (see scandal). Related: Scandalously.
Scandinavia: 1765, from Late Latin Scandinavia, a mistake for Scadinavia, from a Germanic source (cf. Old English Scedenig, Old Norse Skaney "south end of Sweden"), from Proto-Germanic *skadinaujo "Scadia island," first element of uncertain origin, second element from *aujo "thing on the water," from PIE *akwa- "water." It may truly have been an island when the word was formed; the geography of the Baltic Sea has changed dramatically since the end of the Ice Ages. Related: Scandinavian.
scanner (n.): 1927 as a type of mechanical device, agent noun from scan (v.).
scansion (n.): 1670s, "action of marking off of verse in metric feet," from Late Latin scansionem (nominative scansio), from Latin, "act of climbing," from scandere "to climb" (see scan (v.)).
scant (adj.): mid-14c., from Old Norse skamt, neuter of skammr "short, brief," from Proto-Germanic *skamma- (cf. Old English scamm "short," Old High German skemmen "to shorten"), perhaps ultimately "hornless."
scantily (adv.): 1774; see scanty + -ly (2).
scantling (adj.): 1520s, "measured or prescribed size," altered from scantillon (c.1300), a shortening of Old French escantillon, of uncertain origin; perhaps ultimately from Latin scandere "to climb" (see scan). Sense influenced by scant. Meaning "small wooden beam" is 1660s. Related: Scantlings.
scanty (adj.): 1650s, from scant + -y (2).
scape (n.): "scenery view," 1773, abstracted from landscape (q.v.); as a new comb. element, first attested use is 1796, in prisonscape.
scape (v.): late 13c., shortened form of escape; frequent in prose till late 17c. Related: Scaped; scaping.
scapegoat (n.): 1530, "goat sent into the wilderness on the Day of Atonement, symbolic bearer of the sins of the people," coined by Tyndale from scape (n.) + goat to translate Latin caper emissarius, itself a translation in Vulgate of Hebrew 'azazel (Lev. xvi:8,10,26), which was read as 'ez ozel "goat that departs," but which others hold to be the proper name of a devil or demon in Jewish mythology (sometimes identified with Canaanite deity Aziz).

Jerome's reading also was followed by Martin Luther (der ledige Bock), Symmachus (tragos aperkhomenos), and others (cf. French bouc émissaire), but the question of who, or what (or even where) is meant by 'azazel is a vexed one. The Revised Version (1884) simply restores Azazel. But the old translation has its modern defenders:
Azazel is an active participle or participial noun, derived ultimately from azal (connected with the Arabic word azala, and meaning removed), but immediately from the reduplicate form of that verb, azazal. The reduplication of the consonants of the root in Hebrew and Arabic gives the force of repetition, so that while azal means removed, azalzal means removed by a repetition of acts. Azalzel or azazel, therefore, means one who removes by a series of acts. ... The interpretation is founded on sound etymological grounds, it suits the context wherever the word occurs, it is consistent with the remaining ceremonial of the Day of Atonement, and it accords with the otherwise known religious beliefs and symbolical practices of the Israelites. [Rev. F. Meyrick, "Leviticus," London, 1882]
Meaning "one who is blamed or punished for the mistakes or sins of others" first recorded 1824; the verb is attested from 1943.
scapegrace (n.): 1809, from scape (v.) + grace (n.); as if "one who escapes the grace of God." Possibly influenced by scapegoat (q.v.).
scaphoid (adj.): 1741, from Modern Latin scaphoides "boat-shaped," from Greek skaphoeides, from skaphe "boat" (see bathyscaphe) + -oeides (see -oid).
scapula (n.): "shoulder blade," 1570s, Modern Latin, from Late Latin scapula "shoulder," from Latin scapulae (plural) "shoulders, shoulder blades," of unknown origin; perhaps originally "spades, shovels" (cf. Greek skaphein "to dig out"), on notion of similar shape, but actual shoulder blades may have been used as digging tools in primitive times.
scapular (adj.): 1680s (adj.), from Modern Latin scapularis, from Latin scapula "shoulder" (see scapula). The noun (late 15c.) is from Medieval Latin scapulare, from scapula.
scar (n.): late 14c., from Old French escare "scab," from Late Latin eschara, from Greek eskhara "scab formed after a burn," literally "hearth, fireplace," of unknown origin. English sense probably influenced by Middle English skar (late 14c.) "crack, cut, incision," from Old Norse skarð, related to score. Figurative sense attested from 1580s.
scar (v.): 1550s, from scar (n.). Related: Scarred; scarring.
scarab (n.): "black dung beetle," held sacred by the ancient Egyptians, 1570s, from Middle French scarabeé, from Latin scarabaeus "a type of beetle," from Greek karabos "beetle, crayfish," a foreign word, probably Macedonian (the suffix -bos is non-Greek).
scaramouche (n.): 1660s, name of a cowardly braggart (supposed by some to represent a Spanish don) in traditional Italian comedy, from Italian Scaramuccia, literally "skirmish," from schermire "to fence," from a Germanic source (cf. Old High German skirmen "defend"); see skirmish. A vogue word in late 17c. London due to the popularity of Tiberio Fiurelli in the part (his company of Italian players arrived in London 1673).
scarce (adj.): c.1300, "restricted in quantity," from Old North French scars (Old French eschars) from Vulgar Latin *escarpsus, from *excarpere "pluck out," from Latin excerpere "pluck out" (see excerpt). Phrase to make oneself scarce "go away" first attested 1809 in "Gil Blas." Related: Scarcely.
scarcity (n.): c.1300, from Old North French escarceté (Old French escharsete), from eschars (see scarce).
scare (v.): c.1200, from Old Norse skirra "to frighten," related to skjarr "timid, shy," of unknown origin. The noun is attested from 1520s. To scare up "procure, obtain" is first recorded 1846, American English, from notion of rousing game from cover. Related: Scared; scaring.
scarecrow (n.): 1550s, from scare (v.) + crow (n.). Earliest reference is to a person employed to scare birds. Stick-figure sense is implied by 1580s.
scared (adj.): past participle adjective from scare (v.). Scared stiff first recorded 1900; scared shitless is from 1936. Scaredy-cat "timid person" first attested 1933, in Dorothy Parker.
scaremonger (n.): 1888, from scare (n.) + monger (n.).
scarf (v.): "eat hastily," 1960, U.S. teen slang, originally a noun meaning "food, meal" (1932), perhaps imitative, or from scoff (attested in a similar sense from 1846). Or perhaps from a dialectal survival of Old English sceorfan "to gnaw, bite" (see scarf (n.2)); a similar word is found in a S.African context in the 1600s. Related: Scarfed; scarfing.
scarf (n.1): "strip of cloth," 1550s, "a band worn across the body or over the shoulders," probably from Old North French escarpe "sash, sling," which probably is identical with Old French escherpe "pilgrim's purse suspended from the neck," perhaps from Frankish *skirpja or some other Germanic source (cf. Old Norse skreppa "small bag, wallet, satchel"), or from Medieval Latin scirpa "little bag woven of rushes," from Latin scirpus "rush, bulrush," of unknown origin. As a cold-weather covering for the neck, first recorded 1844. Plural scarfs began to yield to scarves early 18c., on model of half/halves, etc.
scarf (n.2): "connecting joint," late 13c., probably from Old Norse skarfr "nail for fastening a joint." A general North Sea Germanic ship-building word (cf. Dutch scherf, Swedish skarf, Norwegian skarv), the exact relationship of all these is unclear. Also borrowed into Romanic (cf. French écart, Spanish escarba); perhaps ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skerf-, *skarf- (cf. Old English sceorfan "to gnaw, bite").
scarification (n.): c.1400, "act of covering with scratches or slight cuts," from Old French scarification (early 14c.), from Late Latin scarificationem, noun of action from past participle stem of scarificare, from Latin scarifare "scratch open," from Greek skariphasthai "to scratch an outline, sketch," from skariphos "pencil, stylus," from PIE root *skribh- "to cut, separate, sift" (see script).
scarify (v.): 1540s, "cover witch scratches," from French scarifier (14c.), from Late Latin scarificare (see scarification). The sense "cover with scars" (1680s) is a sense-shift from influence of scar.
scarily (adv.): 1845, "timidly;" 1967, "unnervingly;" see scary + -ly (2).
scarlatina (n.): 1803, from Modern Latin scarlatina (Sydenham, 1676), from Italian scarlattina (Lancelotti, 1527), fem. of scarlattino (adj.), diminutive of scarlatto "scarlet" (see scarlet). It is a synonym for scarlet fever, not a milder form of it.
scarlet (n.): mid-13c., "rich cloth" (often, but not necessarily, bright red in color), from a shortened form of Old French escarlate (12c., Modern French écarlate), from Medieval Latin scarlatum "scarlet, cloth of scarlet" (cf. Italian scarlatto, Spanish escarlate), probably via a Middle Eastern source (cf. Arabic siqillat "fine cloth"), from Medieval Greek and ultimately from Late Latin sigillatus "clothes and cloth decorated with small symbols or figures," literally "sealed," past participle of sigillare, from the root of sign (n.). In reference to color, attested from late 14c. Scarlet lady, etc. (Isa. i:18, Rev. xvii:1-5) is from notion of "red with shame or indignation." Scarlet fever is from 1670s.
scarp (n.): "steep slope," 1580s, from Italian scarpa "slope," probably from a Germanic source, perhaps Gothic *skrapa (cf. Middle High German schroffe "sharp rock, crag," Old English scræf "cave, grave").
scary (adj.): also scarey, 1580s, from scare + -y (2). Related: Scarier; scariest.
scat (1): "go away!" 1838, from expression quicker than s'cat "in a great hurry," probably representing a hiss followed by the word cat.
scat (n.2): "nonsense patter sung to jazz," 1926, probably of imitative origin, from one of the syllables used.
scat (3): "filth, dung," 1950, from Greek stem skat- "dung" (see scatology).