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
- Having little length; not long.
- Having little height; not tall.
- Lasting a brief time.
- Not reaching far enough; insufficient: short of money.
- Brief and to the point; succinct.
- Rudely brief; curt.
- Of pastry, crisp and crumbly.
- (phonetics) Of a vowel, brief in duration.
Adverb
- Abruptly: stop short.
- Before reaching a limit or goal: fall short.
- (finance) Without owning what one sells: sell short.
Noun
- A short film.
- (plural) Trousers ending at or above the knee.
- A short circuit.
Verb
- To cause a short circuit in.
- To give less than is due; to short-change.
Word family
- shortness
- shortish
Related words
- shirt
- skirt
- shear
- curt
- curtail
- kirtle
References
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
- ^ 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
- ^ 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
- ^ a b The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
- ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
- ^ a b c Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
- ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
- ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
- ^ Kay, Christian; Roberts, Jane; Samuels, Michael; Wotherspoon, Irené, eds. (2009), Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford: Oxford University Press; online edition (2024)