Etymologically
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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ʃeə/, US /ʃer/[1]

share1 portion

Etymology

The portion is inherited from Middle English share, inherited from Old English scearu (“a cutting, shearing, tonsure; a division”),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *skeraz,[2] from the base of sceran (“to cut”), the source of shear.[2][3][5] Its cognates include Old High German scara (“troop, share of forced labour”) and German Schar (“troop, band”),[2][4][6] originally “a part of an army”.[2][6] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *sker- (“to cut”).[2][7] The sense development is compared with that of section.[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Old English scearu was used mostly in compounds such as landscearu (“a share of land”) and folcscearu (“a division of the people”).[2][3] A portion of something belonging to someone is from 1372,[8] first in a duty levied on fishing boats, and about 1375 in general use.[3]

Semantic evolution

Hoad notes that the earliest examples are in Anglo-French and Anglo-Latin documents.[5] A part of a thing owned by a number in common, such as booty, is from the late 14th century,[2] and a part of the capital of a company from about 1600[2] or 1601.[8] A part taken in an action or experience, as in have a share in, is from 1592.[8] The verb meant “to apportion” from 1590,[8][9] and “to give part of one's own to others” and “to take a part” from the 1590s.[2] “To confess one's sins openly”, and later “to talk about one's experiences”, is from 1932.[2] The same Old English noun gave an obsolete share, “the groin, pubic region”, recorded from about 1000,[8][2] hence share-bone, the pubis.[2]

Timeline

  • c. 1000 – Old English scearu, the groin; a division.[8][3]
  • 1372 – a portion.[8][3]
  • 1590 – verb, to apportion.[8]
  • 1592 – a part taken in something.[8]
  • c. 1600 – a share in a company.[2]
  • 1932 – verb, to share in a group.[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A part or portion belonging to, given to or owed by someone.
  2. A fair or due portion.
  3. Any of the equal parts into which a company's capital is divided.

Verb

  1. To divide and give out in shares.
  2. To use, enjoy or experience together with others.
  3. To give others a part of; to tell others about.
  4. To have a part in something.

Word family

  • shareable
  • sharer
  • shareholder
  • sharecropper
  • timeshare

share2 ploughshare

Etymology

The blade is inherited from Middle English schare, inherited from Old English scear (“ploughshare”) (also scær),[2][3][4] literally “that which cuts”,[2][6] from Proto-Germanic *skeraz,[2] from the base of shear.[4][5] Its cognates include Old Frisian sker and Old High German scaro (“ploughshare”),[2][3][4] and Dutch ploegschaar.[2][6] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *sker- (“to cut”).[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The iron blade of a plough: Old English scear, about 725,[8] or before 800.[3]

Semantic evolution

The Middle English form is ssare about 1300 and schare about 1350.[3] The analogous part of a seed drill is a share from 1731.[8][4] The longer ploughshare is now the usual word.[4]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English scear.[8]
  • c. 1300 – Middle English ssare.[3]
  • 1731 – the blade of a seed drill.[8]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A ploughshare.
  2. A similar blade on a seed drill.
  • shear
  • shard
  • ploughshare

Usage notes

The American Heritage Dictionary compares share with participate and partake.[10]

References

  1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin