Etymologically
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skill

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /skɪl/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English skil, borrowed from Old Norse skil (“distinction, discernment, knowledge”),[2][3][4][5] related to the verb skilja (“to separate, distinguish”),[2][3] from Proto-Germanic *skaljo- “to divide, separate”,[2] from Proto-Indo-European *skel- (“to cut”), the source also of Lithuanian skelti “to split”.[2][3] Middle Dutch geschil “difference” is a cognate.[5][6] NODE traces it to late Old English scele “knowledge”.[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

That which is reasonable or right, distinction: about 1175 in the OED and Barnhart.[8][3] Etymonline has “knowledge, divine wisdom” from the early 12th century.[2]

Semantic evolution

Reason as a faculty of the mind is from before 1200, and a cause or reason from before 1300; all these senses are now obsolete.[8][3][2] Practical knowledge and ability, cleverness, is recorded by the early 13th century, before 1225 in Barnhart.[2][3] The adjective skilful is from before 1325,[3] and skilled from the 16th century.[5] The verb, from Old Norse skila and skilja, is now archaic: it meant to separate in Middle English, and later “to matter, make a difference”.[6][4]

Timeline

  • c. 1175 – what is reasonable or right.[8][3]
  • c. 1200 – reason, judgement.[8]
  • a. 1225 – practical ability.[3]
  • a. 1325 – skilful.[3]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The ability to do something well, gained through training or practice; expertise.
  2. A particular ability or technique, especially one that needs training: computer skills.
  3. (obsolete) Understanding or reason.

Word family

  • deskill
  • outskill
  • skill-less
  • skilful
  • skillful
  • skilled
  • game of skill

Usage notes

In Lakeland and Devon dialect another verb skill meant to shell or husk.[9]

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 Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  4. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  8. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ 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)