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scorn

Etymology and origin of the English word scorn

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /skɔːn/ (UK); /skɔɹn/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English scorn, scarn, borrowed from Old French escarn (“mockery, derision”),[2][3][4][5][6] with the verb borrowed from Old French escharnir (“to mock”),[3][4][6] of Germanic origin,[2][3][4][5][6] related to Old High German skern “jest, mockery”.[3][4][5] Barnhart and Weekley think the vowel was later influenced by Old French escorner “to insult”, literally “to dehorn”, from Latin cornū “horn”;[3][4] the OED rejects this.[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Mockery, derision, contempt (c. 1200);[7][3] as a verb, “to slander” (c. 1150) or “to behave contemptuously” (c. 1200).[3][7]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English scorn meant both mocking speech and the feeling of contempt;[7][4] in modern use the noun denotes indignant or passionate contempt.[7][5] The verb passed from “to mock, deride” (before 1225), now obsolete, to “to hold in disdain, to despise” (before 1275)[7] and “to disdain to do something” (1605).[7] The phrase to laugh to scorn dates from about 1300.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 1150 – verb, to slander (Barnhart).[3]
  • c. 1200 – noun, mockery, contempt.[7][3]
  • before 1275 – verb, to despise.[7]
  • c. 1300 – to laugh to scorn.[4]
  • c. 1350 – scornful.[3]
  • 1605 – verb, to disdain to do something.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. Contempt or disdain for someone or something regarded as unworthy.
  2. The expression of such contempt; derision.
  3. An object of contempt or derision.

Verb

  1. To consider or treat as contemptible or unworthy; to despise.
  2. To reject or refuse with contempt, as in she scorned my help.
  3. To express contempt; to scoff.

Word family

  • scorner
  • scornful
  • scornfully
  • scornfulness
  • contempt
  • disdain
  • scoff
  • derision

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas, Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  5. ^ a b c d Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press

Related etymologies

Cite this entry

“Scorn.” Etymologically, 11 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/scorn. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

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