sheer

Sheer, pure or steep, is probably an alteration of shire, bright, pure; sheer, to swerve, is a nautical word probably from Dutch or Low German scheren.^[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ʃɪə̯/ (UK); /ʃɪɚ/ (US)^[4]

sheer¹ pure, steep

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English schere, probably an alteration of the dialect shire, bright, clear, pure, inherited from Old English scīr (“bright, clear, translucent, pure”),^[3][1][5] perhaps influenced by Old Norse skǽrr, bright, clean,^[3] from Proto-Germanic *skīraz, from the root of shine.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Exempt, free from guilt: about 1200, as in Sheer Thursday, the Thursday of Holy Week.^[3][5][6]

Semantic evolution

Thin, sparse is from about 1400.^[3] Of fabrics, diaphanous, very thin and delicate, it is from the 1560s.^[3][1] The sense absolute, utter, as sheer nonsense, developed by the 1580s, probably from the idea unmixed;^[3] Trench notes that Christopher Sly's sheer ale in The Taming of the Shrew puzzled early commentators, since sheer once applied to concrete things.^[7] Very steep, straight up and down, as a sheer cliff, is from 1800,^[3] the 18th century in Hoad.^[1] As an adverb it is from about 1600.^[3] A sheer fabric, as a noun, is American from the mid-20th century.^[6]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – free from guilt.^[3]
• c. 1400 – thin.^[3]
• 1560s – of fabric, diaphanous.^[3]
• 1580s – absolute, utter.^[3]
• c. 1600 – the adverb.^[3]
• 1800 – perpendicular.^[3]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Complete or utter; nothing but: sheer folly.
2. Very steep; nearly perpendicular: a sheer cliff.
3. Of fabric, very thin and almost transparent.

Adverb

1. Straight up or down; perpendicularly.
2. Completely.

Noun

1. A thin, transparent fabric.

Word family

• sheerly
• sheerness

sheer² swerve

Etymology

It is a nautical word of obscure origin, probably from Low German or Dutch scheren (“to withdraw, depart; originally to divide”) (see shear).^[2][3][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of a ship, to turn aside or deviate from a course: 1626, in Captain John Smith's Accidence; the 1620s in Etymonline.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The noun, a ship's turning from its course, is from 1670.^[2][8] In the general sense, to change one's course, it is from 1704,^[3] and sheer off from 1808.^[8] A different nautical sheer, the upward curve of a ship's deck towards bow and stern, is from 1691, probably from shear.^[8][1]

Timeline

• 1626 – to swerve.^[2]
• 1670 – a swerve (noun).^[2]
• 1691 – the curve of a deck.^[8]
• 1704 – to change course.^[3]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. To swerve or cause to swerve from a course.

Noun

1. A swerving or deviating course.
2. The upward curve of a ship's deck or hull towards bow and stern.

Related words

• shine
• shear

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Trench, Richard Chenevix (1859), A Select Glossary of English Words Used Formerly in Senses Different from Their Present, London: John W. Parker
8. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press