Etymologically
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shore

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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.

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