Etymologically
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shot

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: UK /ʃɒt/, US /ʃɑːt/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English schot, inherited from Old English scot (“a shot, a shooting; what is discharged in shooting”) (also sceot, gesceot),[2][3][4] from Proto-Germanic *skutą,[2][3][5] from the Germanic base of shoot.[4][5][6] Its cognates include Old Frisian skot (“missile”), Dutch schot, German Schuss (“a shot”) and Old Norse skot.[2][3][7][8] Etymonline traces it to Proto-Indo-European *skeud- (“to shoot, chase, throw”).[3][9] It is a doublet of scot, “payment”, as in scot-free.[7][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

That which is discharged in shooting: Old English scot, before 899, in Alfred's writings.[2] The OED's first sense, a rapid movement or rush, is from before 1000.[10] The act of shooting is probably from about 1300, in Guy of Warwick.[2]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English shot meant an arrow or dart,[3] and by the mid-15th century balls and bullets.[3] The range of a missile in flight is from the early 15th century, hence range in general about 1600, as in earshot.[3] Small lead pellets are shot from 1770, short for small shot (1727).[3] A payment, perhaps literally “money thrown down”, survives in scot-free[3] and in dialect, where a shot is a tavern bill.[11] “An attempt to hit with a projectile” is by the 1650s,[3] and a drink from the 1670s; a small drink of spirits is from 1928.[3] In sport, a shot at goal is from 1772, first in curling.[3] A hypodermic injection is from 1904,[3] and a photograph or film take is a later sense.[12] The adjective, “wounded by a bullet”, is from 1837,[3] and “ruined, worn out” is American slang by 1933.[3]

Timeline

  • before 899 – Old English scot (Alfred).[2]
  • c. 1300 – an act of shooting.[2]
  • early 15th century – range of a missile.[3]
  • mid-15th century – a ball or bullet.[3]
  • 1650s – an attempt to hit.[3]
  • 1670s – a drink.[3]
  • 1770 – lead pellets.[3]
  • 1772 – a shot in sport.[3]
  • 1837 – adjective, wounded by a bullet.[3]
  • 1904 – an injection.[3]
  • 1933 – adjective, worn out.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The firing of a weapon such as a gun.
  2. An attempt to hit a target, or to score in a game.
  3. The range of a missile; reach: within earshot.
  4. Small lead or steel pellets fired from a shotgun; a single ball for a gun.
  5. A person who shoots: a good shot.
  6. An attempt or try: give it a shot.
  7. A hypodermic injection.
  8. A small drink of spirits.
  9. A photograph, or a single continuous take in a film.
  10. The heavy metal ball thrown in the shot put.

Adjective

  1. Of fabric, woven to show changing colours; iridescent.
  2. (informal) Worn out; ruined.

Word family

  • shotless
  • shotlike
  • bloodshot
  • shoot
  • scot
  • scot-free
  • shotgun
  • earshot
  • upshot
  • snapshot
  • shotten

Usage notes

The adjective shot, of fabric showing a play of colours, is from 1763, from the past participle of shoot in its old sense “to variegate with threads of different colours”.[2][8]

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 Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ Soanes, Catherine; Stevenson, Angus, eds. (2004), Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  8. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  9. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (2000), 4th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin
  10. ^ Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  11. ^ Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  12. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin