skyline

Etymology

It is a compound from English sky + line.^[2][3][4] The OED's first record is from 1815,^[2] Etymonline and Merriam-Webster date it to 1824,^[3][5] and Dictionary.com to 1855–60.^[4] Etymonline notes that it was also written sky-line.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The line where the earth or the landscape seems to meet the sky; the horizon: 1815, in the Caledonian Mercury.^[2] The OED also includes the representation of such a line in a painting or drawing,^[2] and Etymonline notes that the word was at first often used of paintings.^[3]

Semantic evolution

From the horizon itself, the word passed to the outline of what stands against it: from 1875 it is recorded for the silhouette of a city or of a group of buildings against the sky, first in a New York newspaper.^[2] Merriam-Webster gives both the horizon and the outline of buildings or a mountain range.^[5][6] A rare colloquial use for the line of the top row of pictures in an exhibition is recorded only in 1911.^[2] In forestry, from 1915, a skyline is a high overhead cable used to carry logs from a logging site.^[2][5] The verb followed: from 1872 in the passive, to be bordered by mountains or buildings on the horizon, then from 1895 to be seen outlined against the sky.^[2][5]

Timeline

• 1815 – the horizon; first in the Caledonian Mercury.^[2]
• 1824 – the horizon, the date in Etymonline and Merriam-Webster.^[3][5]
• 1872 – verb, to be bordered by mountains or buildings on the horizon.^[2]
• 1875 – the outline of a city or of buildings against the sky.^[2]
• 1895 – verb, to be silhouetted against the sky.^[2]
• 1911 – the line of the top row of pictures in an exhibition (rare, obsolete).^[2]
• 1915 – forestry, a high overhead cable for moving logs.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. The outline of buildings, mountains or trees seen against the sky: The city's skyline is dominated by two towers.^[7][5][2]
2. The line where the earth and the sky seem to meet; the horizon.^[7][5][2]
3. (forestry) A high overhead cable stretched between two points, used to carry logs.^[5][2]

Verb

1. To outline something against the sky; to be silhouetted against it: The riders were skylined on the ridge.^[5][2]

Related words

• sky
• line

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary (2003), 11th ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins