Words related to *skeud-
"to reject (something) with scorn," 1710, earlier "to mock, ridicule, treat with disdain and contempt" (c. 1600, now obsolete), of Scandinavian origin (compare Old Norse skuta, skute "to taunt"), from skotja "to shoot" (on the notion of a "shooting of words"), which according to Watkins is from a Proto-Germanic *skut- from PIE root *skeud- "to shoot, chase, throw." also source of shout (v.). Compare Middle English scoute (n.) "a wretch, rascal, rogue" (male or female), attested from late 14c. Related: Scouted; scouting; scoutingly.
[length of cloth] Old English sciete (West Saxon), scete (Mercian) "length of cloth, covering, napkin, towel, shroud," according to Watkins from Proto-Germanic *skautjon-, with notions of "corner," from *skauta- "project" (source also of Old Norse skaut, Gothic skauts "seam, hem of a garment;" Dutch schoot; German Schoß "bosom, lap"), from PIE root *skeud- "to shoot, chase, throw." "A very abstract and uncertain semantic development" according to Boutkan (who rightly can't resist adding a German assessment of it, etwas hervorragendes).
It is attested by mid-13c. as "large square or rectangular piece of linen or cotton spread over a bed next to the sleeper." The sense of "oblong or square piece of paper," especially one suitable for writing or printing on, is recorded by c. 1500; that of "any broad, flat, relatively thin surface" (of metal, open water, etc.) is from 1590s. Of a continuous sweep of falling rain from 1690s. The meaning "a newspaper" is recorded by 1749.
Sheet lightning, caused by cloud reflection, is attested from 1794; sheet music is from 1857. Between the sheets "in bed" (usually with sexual overtones) is attested from 1590s (played upon in "Much Ado"); to be white as a sheet is from 1751. The first element in sheet-anchor (late 15c.), one used only in emergencies, appears to be a different word, of unknown origin, perhaps with some connection to shoot (v.) on the notion of being "shot out."
"rope fastened to one of the lower corners of a sail to control it," late 13c., shete, shortened from Old English sceatline "sheet-line," from sceata "lower part of sail," originally "piece of cloth," from same Proto-Germanic source as sheet (n.1). Compare Old Norse skaut, Dutch schoot, German Schote "rope fastened to a sail."
The rope sense of sheet probably is that in the phrase three sheets to the wind "drunk and disorganized," which is recorded by 1812 (in the form three sheets in the wind), an image of a sloop-rigged sailboat whose three sheet-lines have slipped through the blocks are lost to the wind, thus "out of control." Apparently there was an early 19c. informal drunkenness scale in use among sailors and involving one, two, and three sheets, three signifying the highest degree of inebriation; there is a two sheets in the wind from 1813.
It must not be wondered at that the poor, untutored, savage Kentuckyan got "more than two thirds drunk," that is, as the sailors term it, three sheets in the wind and the fourth shivering, before the dinner was ended. [Niles' Weekly Register, May 2, 1812]
Middle English sheten "hasten from place to place; move swiftly; thrust forward; discharge a missile, send an arrow from a bow," from Old English sceotan (class II strong verb; past tense sceat, past participle scoten), "dart forth, go swiftly and suddenly," also "discharge (a missile or weapon);" also, of a person, "go suddenly from place to place;" also transitive "send out or forth with sudden or violent motion; put forth or extend in any direction; strike with anything shot."
This is from Proto-Germanic *skeutanan (source also of Old Saxon skiotan, Old Norse skjota "to shoot with (a weapon); shoot, launch, push, shove quickly," Old Frisian skiata, Middle Dutch skieten, Dutch schieten, Old High German skiozan, German schießen), often said to be from PIE root *skeud- "to shoot, chase, throw," but Boutkan gives it no IE etymology.
The sense of "dart along" (as pain through the nerves or a meteor in the sky) is by late 13c.; that of "come forth" (as a plant) is by late 15c. As "increase rapidly, grow quickly" by 1530s (often with up (adv.)). By 1690s as "be emitted in rays or flashes" (as light is); by 1530s in weaving, "variegate by interspersing colors."
The general sports sense of "kick, hit, throw etc. toward the goal" is by 1874. In reference to pool playing, by 1926. The meaning "strive (for)" is by 1967, American English. The sense of "descend (a river) quickly" is from 1610s. The slang meaning "to inject by means of a hypodermic needle" is attested by 1914 among addicts. The meaning "to photograph" (especially a movie) is from 1890.
As an interjection, an arbitrary euphemistic alteration of shit, it is recorded by 1934.
Shoot the breeze "chat" is attested by 1938 (as shooting the breeze), perhaps originally U.S. military slang. Shoot to kill is attested from 1867. Slang shoot the cat "vomit" is from 1785.
To shoot the moon formerly meant "depart by night with ones goods to escape back rent" (c. 1823).
O, 'tis cash makes such crowds to the gin shops roam,
And 'tis cash often causes a rumpus at home ;
'Tis when short of cash people oft shoot the moon ;
And 'tis cash always keeps our pipes in tune.
Cash! cash! &c.
["The Melodist and Mirthful Olio, An Elegant Collection of the Most Popular Songs," vol. IV, London, 1829]
Shoot against the moon was used by Massinger (1634) as a figure of an impossible attempt.
Middle English shot "a missile, arrow, dart" (senses now archaic or obsolete); "a swift movement, a gushing out," from Old English scot, sceot "a shot, a shooting, an act of shooting; that which is discharged in shooting, what is shot forth; darting, rapid motion."
This is from Proto-Germanic *skutan (source also of Old Norse skutr, Old Frisian skete, Middle Dutch scote, German Schuß "a shot"), from PIE root *skeud- "to shoot, chase, throw." The Old English noun is related to sceotan "to shoot." The meaning "discharge of a bow, missile," also is from related Old English gesceot.
The noun was extended to other projectiles (balls, bullets) by mid-15c. Especially "lead in small pellets, a small ball or pellet," a number of which are combined in one charge, which is attested by 1770 (shortened from earlier small shot, 1727).
The general sense of "an attempt to hit with a projectile" is by 1650s. Extended to sports (hockey, basketball, etc.) by 1772, originally in curling. It is attested by early 15c. as "range or distance of a missile in flight," hence "range" in general (c. 1600), as in earshot.
Another original meaning, "payment" (perhaps literally "money thrown down") is preserved in scot-free; also see scot (n.). The notion of "throwing down" might have led to the meaning "a drink," first attested 1670s; the more precise meaning "small drink of straight liquor" is by 1928.
The sense of "hypodermic injection" is attested from 1904; the figurative phrase shot in the arm "stimulant" is by 1922. The broad meaning "a try, an attempt" is by 1756; the sense of "remark meant to wound" is by 1841. The meaning "an expert in shooting with a firearm" is from 1780; the sense of "a rocket flight" is by 1934. The camera-view sense is by 1958.
To call the shots "control events, make decisions" is American English, 1922, perhaps from sport shooting. Shot in the dark "uninformed guess, random attempt" is by 1885. Big shot "important person" is from 1861.
By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April’s breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood
And fired the shot heard round the world.
[Emerson, from "Concord Hymn"]
c. 1300, shouten, schowten "to call or cry out loudly," a word of unknown origin; perhaps from the root of shoot (v.) on the notion of "throw the voice out loudly," or related to Old Norse skuta "a taunt" (compare scout (v.2)); both of which are reconstructed to be from PIE root *skeud- "to shoot, chase, throw."
The transitive sense of "utter in a loud and vehement voice" is by late 14c. Related: Shouted; shouting. To be all over but (the) shouting when the outcome appears certain is by 1834.
Middle English shitten, sheten, "close (a door, window, gate, etc.); lock, fasten closed," from Old English scyttan "to put (a bolt) in place so as to fasten a door or gate, bolt, shut to; discharge, pay off," from West Germanic *skutjan (source also of Old Frisian schetta, Middle Dutch schutten "to shut, shut up, obstruct"), from PIE root *skeud- "to shoot, chase, throw." Related: Shutting.
The meaning "to close by folding or bringing together" is from mid-14c. That of "prevent ingress and egress" is from mid-14c. The sense of "to set (someone) free (from)," by c. 1500, is obsolete except in dialectal phrases such as get (or be) shut of (attested by 1570s). To shut (one's) mouth "desist from speaking" is recorded from mid-14c.
As a past-participle adjective, "made fast, closed, enclosed," by late 15c. As a noun, "action, time, or place of shutting," by 1660s.
Middle English shitel, "missile; a weaver's instrument," also the name of a children's game, from Old English scytel "a dart, arrow," from Proto-Germanic *skutilaz (source also of Old Norse skutill "harpoon"), from PIE root *skeud- "to shoot, chase, throw."
The original sense in English is obsolete; the weaving instrument is so called from being "shot" across the threads. The sense of "train that runs back and forth" is recorded by 1895, from the image of the weaver's instrument's back-and-forth movement over the warp; extended to aircraft or air service by 1942, to spacecraft by 1969 in science, 1960 in science fiction. In some other languages, the weaving instrument takes its name from its resemblance to a boat (Latin navicula, French navette, German weberschiff).
form of trap-shooting involving varying angles, 1926, a name chosen from public submissions to National Sportsman as "a very old form of our present word 'shoot.' " Perhaps the word intended was something akin to dialectal skite (n.) "a sudden stroke, or blow," ultimately from Old Norse skjota "to shoot" (compare skit, and see shoot (v.)).
In a list of "Some Peculiarities of Speech in Mississippi," [H.A. Shands, 1893] is an entry for skeet: "Illiterate whites use this word to mean to move swiftly to flee to run and also to skate and from this last it is probably derived."
The game of "Skeet" was developed by a group of enthusiastic trap-shooters who were dissatisfied with the target methods employed at various trap-shooting clubs and who desired to work out a system that would reproduce more closely actual field shooting conditions. How well they have succeeded is evidenced by the popularity that has already been accorded the new game. [Forest and Stream, October 1926]
