shore

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ʃɔː/, US /ʃɔːr/^[1]

shore¹ land by the water

Etymology

The land word is Middle English schore, of uncertain origin:^[2] it may come from Old English scora, sceor-, found only in place names,^[3][4] or be borrowed from Middle Low German schōre (“shore, coast, headland”) or Middle Dutch scorre “land washed by the sea”,^[3][2][5] all probably from Proto-Germanic *skur- “cut”, from the PIE root Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut”) (see shear).^[3][2] The original sense is not easy to determine: perhaps the division between land and water,^[2][3] or land cut off from the mainland by tidal marshes.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The land bordering the sea, a lake or a river: about 1300 in Etymonline and in the 14th century in the OED and Hoad; probably about 1380 in Barnhart.^[3][6][5][2]

Semantic evolution

On shore, on land as opposed to water, is from the 14th century.^[6] A coast or the country that it bounds, in rhetorical use, is from 1611,^[6] and in law the tract between ordinary high and low water from 1622.^[6][7] In Scotland a shore was also a quay built for loading and landing goods (1512).^[6] The verb, to go or put ashore, is from the late 16th century.^[8] Shorebird is American from 1874.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1300 – land by the water.^[3]
• 1512 – a landing place, in Scots.^[6]
• 1611 – a coast, country.^[6]
• 1622 – in law, between the tide marks.^[6]
• 1874 – shorebird.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. The land along the edge of a sea, lake or wide river.
2. Land as opposed to water: on shore.
3. (often plural) A country: foreign shores.

shore² prop

Etymology

The prop is probably borrowed from Middle Low German schōre (“prop, stay, support”), cognate with Middle Dutch schore, schoor and Old Norse skorða,^[2][5][4] words of obscure origin though widespread in Germanic;^[3] Barnhart links them to a split beam and the root of shear.^[2] The verb is from the noun, perhaps reinforced by Middle Dutch schōren “to prop up”.^[2][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The noun, a prop: 1318 in Barnhart, the late 13th century in Etymonline.^[2][3] The verb, to prop up, is from 1340, in the Ayenbite of Inwyt.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The noun survives in technical use for a post or beam that gives temporary support, especially an oblique timber bracing the side of a building, a ship under repair or an excavation, from the mid-15th century.^[3][8][5] The verb, usually shore up, is often used figuratively, of supporting a failing cause or economy.^[9][7]

Timeline

• 1318 – a prop.^[2]
• 1340 – to prop up.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. (usually shore up) To support with a prop, or to strengthen something weak.

Noun

1. A beam set against a building or ship to support it; a prop.

Related words

• longshoreman
• ashore
• shear
• share
• short
• score
• shard

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c d e Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin