short

Pronunciation

• IPA: UK /ʃɔːt/, US /ʃɔːrt/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English short (also schort), inherited from Old English sceort (“of little length; not tall; brief”),^[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *skurtaz,^[5][2] from Proto-Indo-European *sker- (“to cut”), with the idea of something cut off.^[2][4] Its relatives include Old High German scurz and Old Norse skorta (“to be short of”),^[3][2] and Etymonline and Klein add Latin curtus (“short”).^[2][6] It is related to shirt and skirt,^[7][8][6] and to shear and curt.^[6][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Of little length; not tall; brief: Old English sceort, before 899, in Alfred's translation of Boethius.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

Of memory, short is from the mid-14th century.^[2] “Not up to the required amount” and “curt, rude” are from the late 14th century,^[2][10] and Chaucer used in short about 1386.^[3] “Brittle, crumbly”, as of pastry, is from the 15th century,^[5] the sense in shortbread (1801).^[3] Fall short and “not reaching the mark” come from archery, in the 1540s.^[2] The short of it is from before 1586,^[3] “easily provoked” from the 1590s,^[2] and “having too little” from the 1690s.^[2] Shorts, short trousers, first appear in Disraeli's Vivian Grey (1826).^[3] A short drink is from 1823, for short from 1845, and sell short from 1852.^[2] Shortage is American, from 1868.^[3] The electrical short and the verb “to short-circuit” are from 1904–06,^[3][2] and a short film from 1929.^[2]

Timeline

• before 899 – Old English sceort (Alfred).^[3]
• before 1325 – adverb (Cursor Mundi).^[3]
• late 14th century – insufficient; curt.^[2]
• c. 1386 – in short (Chaucer).^[3]
• 1540s – falling short of a mark.^[2]
• 1801 – shortbread.^[3]
• 1826 – shorts (Disraeli).^[3]
• 1868 – shortage.^[3]
• 1904 – verb, to short-circuit.^[3]
• 1929 – a short film.^[2]

Modern meaning

Adjective

1. Having little length; not long.
2. Having little height; not tall.
3. Lasting a brief time.
4. Not reaching far enough; insufficient: short of money.
5. Brief and to the point; succinct.
6. Rudely brief; curt.
7. Of pastry, crisp and crumbly.
8. (phonetics) Of a vowel, brief in duration.

Adverb

1. Abruptly: stop short.
2. Before reaching a limit or goal: fall short.
3. (finance) Without owning what one sells: sell short.

Noun

1. A short film.
2. (plural) Trousers ending at or above the knee.
3. A short circuit.

Verb

1. To cause a short circuit in.
2. To give less than is due; to short-change.

Word family

• shortness
• shortish

Related words

• shirt
• skirt
• shear
• curt
• curtail
• kirtle

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 o p q Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
4. ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
6. ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
7. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
10. ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)