scurvy

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈskɜːvi/ (UK); /ˈskɜɹvi/ (US)^[1]

Etymology

It is the noun use of the adjective scurvy “covered with scurf” (early 15th century),^[2][3] formed from scurf and the suffix -y, at first only a variant of scurfy.^[4][2][3][5] As the name of the disease it was influenced by the similar-sounding Dutch scheurbuik and French scorbut.^[4][2][3][5] The source of these is debated: Barnhart and Etymonline cite Old Norse skyrbjúgr, perhaps “a swelling from sour milk”,^[2][3] the OED a Low German compound meaning “disease that tears the belly”,^[3] and Klein Medieval Latin scorbūtus, which he takes from a Russian word for “scraping”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

As an adjective, covered with scurf, scabby (1515 in the OED; before 1529 in the Historical Thesaurus);^[7][8] as the name of the disease, about 1565.^[2][7][9]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century the disease name varied with scorbute, scurby and scorby, and sailors took it for a “scurvy” disease.^[10] Before its cause was known the word also covered other diseases with similar symptoms.^[11] The figurative adjective, “sorry, worthless, contemptible”, is recorded from 1579,^[7][9] much as shabby literally meant scabby.^[10] Johnson (1755) illustrates this sense with Shakespeare: “This is a very scurvy tune to sing to a man's funeral”.^[12] The disease was later found to be caused by a lack of vitamin C.^[4][9]

Timeline

• c. 1425 – adjective, scurfy (Barnhart).^[2]
• 1515 – covered with scurf.^[7]
• c. 1565 – the disease.^[2][7][9]
• 1579 – contemptible, worthless.^[7][9]
• 1604 – a disease of cattle.^[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A disease caused by a lack of vitamin C, marked by spongy, bleeding gums, bleeding under the skin and great weakness.

Adjective

1. Mean or contemptible, as in a scurvy trick.
2. (archaic) Covered with scurf; scabby.

Word family

• scurvily
• scurviness

Related words

• scorbutic
• scurf
• shabby
• ascorbic

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ a b c d e f g Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)
9. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ a b Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
11. ^ Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1999), 2nd ed., New York: Random House
12. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.