scoot

Etymology

Most dictionaries take it as probably of Scandinavian origin, from Old Norse skjóta (“to shoot”) or a related form,^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} and so related to shoot;^[8][6][5][9] Dictionary.com also offers Old Norse skota (“to push”).^[4] The OED takes the Scottish sense "to squirt" as probably representing a Middle English *skūte of Scandinavian origin, but finds the identity of the senses "to slide" and "to dart" with it not quite certain.^[10] Etymonline and Barnhart call the origin uncertain and the Scandinavian source only possible,^[8][11] and Hoad, the Shorter Oxford, the Concise Oxford and the Oxford Dictionary of English call it unknown.^{[12][13][14][15]} The sense "to dart" first appears in the form “scout”, perhaps as sailors' slang;^{[11][12][13][16]} that form fell out of use in the early 19th century, and the present spelling seems to have come back from the United States.^{[12][8][17][11]} Merriam-Webster's Collegiate takes scoot as perhaps an alteration of this “scout”, itself of unknown origin,^[18] and Barnhart mentions scud, close in sense but no better a match in sound.^[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

To go suddenly and swiftly, to dart or make off: 1758, in a letter of Captain Tyrrell of 9 November printed in the Annual Register,^[10] the year Merriam-Webster Unabridged, Barnhart and Etymonline also give.^[3][11][8]

Semantic evolution

The American Heritage Dictionary describes the Scots verb "to squirt with water" as the original sense, from which the senses "to slide suddenly" and "to move quickly" became the more common ones.^[2] In Scots the verb is recorded as "to eject, squirt" from 1805, and the noun for a sudden gush of water, or a pipe through which it flows, from the early 19th century;^[10][13][8] the English Dialect Dictionary records the verb, with this sense first, in general dialect use in Scotland, Ireland, England and America.^[19] The sense "to slide suddenly, as on slippery ground", Scottish and American, appears in 1838.^[10][16] The noun, an act of scooting, followed in 1864,^[10][11][8] and the verb took objects, to move or send something swiftly, from 1905.^[10] In Australia and New Zealand on the scoot has meant on a drinking spree since 1924.^[10] Scooter is from the verb: a simple plough in American English from 1820, a child's vehicle from 1919;^[11] it was in turn shortened to scoot, a motorcycle or car, from 1943, and a verb scoot, to ride a scooter, from 1951.^[10][16]

Timeline

• 1758 – to go suddenly and swiftly, to dart or make off, at first in the form scout.^[10][11][3]
• 1805 – in Scots, to eject or squirt; to gush out.^[10][8]
• 1838 – in Scotland and the United States, to slide suddenly.^[10][16]
• 1864 – noun, an act of scooting.^[10][11][8]
• 1905 – transitive, to move or send something suddenly and swiftly.^[10]
• 1924 – on the scoot, on a drinking spree, in Australia and New Zealand.^[10]
• 1943 – noun, a motorcycle or car.^[10][16]
• 1951 – to ride a scooter.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To go or move suddenly and quickly; to dart or hurry off: The cat scooted under the bed when the doorbell rang.^{[3][2][7][10]}
2. To slide, especially while seated, as along a bench to make room: Scoot over so your grandmother can sit down.^[18][10]
3. To move or send something suddenly and swiftly.^[10][7]
4. (Scottish, also Upper Southern US) To squirt liquid; to spray with water.^{[2][7][10][19]}

Noun

1. An act of scooting; a quick dash.^[3][7][10]
2. (Scottish) A sudden flow of water; a squirt.^[3][7][13]
3. (Australia and New Zealand, informal) on the scoot: on a drinking spree.^[10][13]
4. (slang) A scooter or motorcycle.^[10][13][16]

Related words

• scooter
• shoot

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
3. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b The Chambers Dictionary (2014), 13th ed., Edinburgh: Chambers
6. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ a b c d e f g h i Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
13. ^ a b c d e f Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
15. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
16. ^ a b c d e f Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
17. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
18. ^ a b Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
19. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)