𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽

Forms

𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (skaban), a strong verb of the sixth class.^[1][2][3] The recorded forms are the infinitive 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (skaban) and the third person singular present optative passive 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌹𐌳𐌰𐌿 (skabaidau).^[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *skabaną (“to shave, scrape”),^[5][6] with the cognates Old Norse skafa, Old English scafan and Old High German scaban.^[6][7] Kroonen reconstructs a present Proto-Indo-European *skh₂bʰ-e- and compares Ancient Greek σκάπτω (skáptō, “to dig”), Latin scabō (“to scratch”) and Lithuanian skóbti (“to hollow out”).^[6] Lehmann starts from a root "to cut with a sharp tool", with variants ending in a plain and in an aspirated stop, the Germanic forms probably continuing the aspirated one.^[8] Feist explains the sense "shear" from "scrape" by the shaving practised since the Stone and Bronze Ages, as razors among the finds show.^[9]

Attestation

Both records are in 1 Corinthians 11:6, manuscript A.^[4][2] PROIEL aligns one token with Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō) and one with Ancient Greek ξυράω (xuráō).^[10] The verse sets the word beside the loanword 𐌺𐌰𐍀𐌹𐌻𐌻𐍉𐌽 (kapillōn, “to cut the hair”): iþ jabai agl ist qinon du kapillon aiþþau skaban, "but if it is shameful for a woman to have her hair cut or to be shaved".^[11][5]

Meanings

1. to shave, to shear (the hair), for Ancient Greek ξυράω (xuráō) and Ancient Greek κείρω (keírō).^[1][2][5]

Word family

• 𐌱𐌹𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽 (biskaban, “to shave off”)

Related words

• 𐌺𐌰𐍀𐌹𐌻𐌻𐍉𐌽 (kapillōn, “to cut the hair”)

References

1. ^ a b Streitberg, Wilhelm (1910), Die gotische Bibel, II: Gotisch-griechisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. skaban
2. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Gotisches Wörterbuch, 4th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling, p. s.v. skaban 2
3. ^ Krause, Wolfgang (1963), Handbuch des Gotischen, 2nd ed., München: Beck, p. § 232
4. ^ a b De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be
5. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌱𐌰𐌽
6. ^ a b c Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. s.v. *skaban-
7. ^ Wright, Joseph (1910), Grammar of the Gothic Language, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. skaban
8. ^ Lehmann, Winfred P. (1986), A Gothic Etymological Dictionary, based on the third edition of Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache by Sigmund Feist, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. skaban
9. ^ Feist, Sigmund (1939), Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der gotischen Sprache, 3rd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. skaban
10. ^ Haug, Dag T. T. et al., PROIEL Treebank: The Gothic Bible (gothic-nt), 2023 release, Pragmatic Resources in Old Indo-European Languages, University of Oslo
11. ^ De Herdt, Tom (2004–2026), Project Wulfila: digital edition of the Gothic Bible with lemma and morphological annotation, data release 2026-09-03, wulfila.be, p. 1Cor 11:6