- shelve (v.)
- 1590s, "to overhang," back-formation from shelves, plural of shelf. Meaning "put on a shelf" first recorded 1650s; metaphoric sense of "lay aside, dismiss" is from 1812. Meaning "to slope gradually" (1610s) is from Middle English shelven "to slope," from shelfe "grassy slope," related to shelf. Related: Shelved; shelving.