Etymologically
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shield

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ʃiːld/[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English scheld, shild, inherited from Old English scield (“shield; protector”), also sceld, scild,[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *skelduz,[3][5] which is also the source of Old Saxon skild, Dutch schild, Old High German scilt (German Schild), Old Norse skjǫldr and Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌹𐌻𐌳𐌿𐍃 (skildus).[2][5][3] It probably first meant a board, from a base *skel- (“to divide, split”),[5][6][3] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *(s)kel- (“to cut”),[3] and is related to shell.[2][4] Boutkan, quoted by Etymonline, thinks it rather meant a means of protection, a separation.[3] The verb is Old English scildan (“to protect”).[4][5][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The defensive armour carried on the arm: about 725 in Beowulf in Barnhart,[2] about 825 in the OED.[7]

Semantic evolution

Something that defends against attack or injury, a protector, is in Old English, and God as a shield, a biblical use after the Psalms, from 971.[7][3] Under shield, in battle, is from before 1300,[7] and in Middle English shield could also mean government or rule (1338).[7] The shield-shaped field bearing a coat of arms is the heraldic sense,[8][9] and two sides of a shield, two ways of looking at a question, is from about 1855.[7] Protective devices of many kinds, such as a screen on a machine or the shield of a tunnelling machine, are later.[9][8] In north-country dialect a shield-bone was a shoulder blade.[10]

Timeline

  • c. 725 – Old English scield, in Beowulf.[2]
  • 971 – God as a shield.[7]
  • before 1300 – under shield, in battle.[7]
  • 1338 – rule, government (obsolete).[7]
  • c. 1855 – two sides of a shield.[7]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A broad piece of armour carried on the arm or in the hand for protection against blows and missiles.
  2. A person or thing that protects.
  3. A protective plate or screen, as on a machine or against radiation.
  4. (heraldry) A shield-shaped escutcheon bearing a coat of arms.
  5. A badge, as of a police officer, or a shield-shaped trophy.

Verb

  1. To protect or defend, as with a shield.
  2. To cover up or conceal.

Word family

  • shielder
  • shieldless
  • shieldlessly
  • shieldlessness
  • shieldlike
  • windshield
  • dress shield
  • heat shield

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  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
  8. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  9. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  10. ^ 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)