- shaft (n.1)
- Old English sceaft "long, slender rod of a staff or spear," from Proto-Germanic *skaftaz (cf. Old Norse skapt, Old Saxon skaft, Old High German scaft, German schaft, Dutch schacht, not found in Gothic), which some connect with a Germanic passive past participle of PIE root *(s)kep- "to cut, to scrape" (cf. Old English scafan "to shave") on notion of "tree branch stripped of its bark." But cf. Latin scapus "shaft, stem, shank," which appears to be a cognate. Meaning "beam or ray" (of light, etc.) is attested from c.1300. Vulgar slang meaning "penis" first recorded 1719.
- shaft (n.2)
- "long, narrow passage sunk into the earth," early 15c., probably from shaft (n.1) on notion of "long and cylindrical," perhaps as a translation of cognate Low German schacht in this sense (Grimm's suggestion, though OED is against it). Or it may represent a separate (unrecorded) development in Old English directly from Proto-Germanic *skaftaz in the original sense of "scrape, dig." The double sense of shaft is attested in country music song title, "She Got the Gold Mine, I Got the Shaft."
- shaft (v.)
- "treat cruelly and unfairly," by 1958, perhaps from shaft (n.1), with overtones of sodomy. Related: Shafted; shafting.