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shock

Etymology and origin of the English word shock

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English has three words shock: a sudden blow or upset, from French; a stack of sheaves, from Germanic; and a mass of hair, of uncertain origin.[1][2][3]

Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ʃɒk/, US /ʃɑːk/[4]

shock1 blow

Confidence
Established
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1565
Borrowed from
Middle French choc
Ultimate origin
Middle French (choc)

Etymology

It is borrowed from Middle French choc (“violent attack”), from Old French choquer “to strike against”,[1][3][5] probably of Germanic origin; compare Middle Dutch schokken “to push, jolt”.[1][3][5] Hoad calls the French verb of unknown origin.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The clash of armed forces in battle, a military term: 1565 in the OED, MWU and Barnhart.[6][5][3][7]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to throw troops into confusion or weaken by impact, is from 1568.[3][6] A sudden violent blow or collision is from 1614,[3][6] a sudden disturbing impression on the mind by 1705,[1] and the verb “to offend, horrify” from Congreve's The Double Dealer in 1694.[3][6] An electric shock is by 1746,[1] and the medical condition of collapse after injury by 1804.[1] Shocking is from 1697 and meant “offensive” from 1703.[3][7] Shock troops (1917) translates German Stoßtruppen and keeps the old military sense.[1]

Timeline

  • 1565 – a clash in battle.[6][3]
  • 1568 – verb, to weaken by a charge.[3][6]
  • 1614 – a violent blow.[3][6]
  • 1694 – verb, to offend.[3][6]
  • 1746 – an electric shock.[1]
  • 1804 – medical shock.[1]
  • 1906 – shock absorber.[1][3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A sudden upsetting experience, or the feeling it causes.
  2. A violent blow or impact.
  3. (medicine) A dangerous state of collapse after injury or loss of blood.
  4. The effect of an electric current passing through the body.

Verb

  1. To cause someone to feel surprise and distress.
  2. To offend or disgust.
  3. To give an electric shock to.

shock2 sheaves

Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Inherited
First attested
c. 1325
Borrowed from
Middle Low German schok via Middle English
Ultimate origin
Proto-Germanic (*skukka-)

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English schokke,[3] perhaps from an unrecorded Old English word,[1][2] or it is borrowed from Middle Low German schok (“shock of corn, group of sixty”),[1][3][2] from Proto-Germanic *skukka-, the source also of Dutch schok and German Schock “sixty”.[1][3] Anglo-Latin socca (12th century) suggests the word was in English earlier.[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

A group of sheaves of grain set upright against one another to dry: about 1325 in the OED, before 1325 in Barnhart.[6][3]

Semantic evolution

A crowd of people or a heap of things is from about 1430.[6] The verb, to set sheaves in shocks, is from before 1338 in Barnhart, about 1440 in the OED.[3][6] A lot of sixty pieces, in trade, is recorded from 1391.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1325 – a stack of sheaves.[6]
  • 1391 – a lot of sixty.[6]
  • c. 1440 – verb, to stack sheaves.[6]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A group of sheaves of grain stood on end to dry.

Verb

  1. To gather sheaves into shocks.

shock3 hair

Confidence
Uncertain
Formation
Derivation
First attested
1819
Ultimate origin
English (shough)

Etymology

It is from the earlier adjective shock “having thick hair” (1680s) and the noun shock, a long-haired lapdog (1630s),[1][6] from shough (1590s), the name of such a dog,[1][7] perhaps from the same source as shock “sheaves”, or from an Old Norse variant of shag.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

A thick mass of hair: 1819.[1]

Semantic evolution

The adjective, of rough thick hair, is from 1681,[6] and a shaggy dog such as a poodle was a shock from 1638.[6][7] Shock-headed Peter was used in 19th-century translations for German Struwwelpeter.[1]

Timeline

  • 1638 – a shaggy dog.[6]
  • 1681 – adjective, shaggy.[6]
  • 1819 – a mass of hair.[1]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. A thick, untidy mass of hair.
  • shocking
  • shag
  • shough

References

  1. ^ 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
  2. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  5. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  7. ^ a b c d Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press

Related etymologies

  • tip · also from Middle Low German
  • mate · also from Middle Low German
  • wake · also from Middle Low German
  • trade · also from Middle Low German
  • deal · also from Middle Low German
  • smile · also from Middle Low German
  • velocipede · also from French
  • diphthong · also from French
Cite this entry

“Shock.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/shock. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

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