skata

Forms

skata f (genitive skǫtu), weak noun^[1][2]

Etymology

It is a North Germanic word of uncertain origin.^[3][4] De Vries, Torp and Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon take the fish to be named after its long, narrow tail, and compare Norwegian Nynorsk skat (“tree top”), the Swedish dialect word skate (“tip, point, tree top, tail”) and Old Swedish skati (“tree top”).^[5][6][7] Torp sets these under a root meaning “to jut out”.^[6] De Vries rejects H. Kuhn's link with Latin squatus (“angelshark”), which leaves the change of initial unexplained.^[5] Wiktionary also mentions skot (“shot”) and skaði (“damage”).^[8] Etymonline calls the word of unknown origin.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The fish is listed among the fish-names in the þulur of the Snorra Edda,^[9][10][11] and Fritzner also cites it from a Norwegian charter in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum.^[9]

Semantic evolution

In Old Norse the word names only the fish,^[12][2] and it continues as Icelandic skata and Faroese skøta.^[5] Modern Icelandic also uses it of a lazy woman, which Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon takes from the slow-moving bottom fish.^[7]

Swedish skata and Danish skade mean “magpie”;^[3][6] Hellquist and Torp explain the bird's name in the same way, from its long tail, and Hellquist holds it a specifically Nordic formation.^[3][6] Middle English scate and English skate are taken from Norse,^[5][13][4] and de Vries gives a Sami skatto and a Russian skat as further loans.^[5]

Timeline

• mid-14th century – Middle English scate, the fish.^[4]
• 1611 – skötur in IcePaHC's first text with the word.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. a skate or ray, the flat fish.^[12][2][9]

Descendants

• Icelandic skata^[5]
• Faroese skøta^[5]
• Norwegian Nynorsk skate^[7]
• English skate^[13][4]

Related words

• skati

References

1. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. skata
2. ^ a b c Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 540
3. ^ a b c Hellquist, Elof (1922), Svensk etymologisk ordbok, Lund, p. s.v. skata
4. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b c d e f g de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 486
6. ^ a b c d Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 448
7. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. skata
8. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
9. ^ a b c Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. skata
10. ^ Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 503
11. ^ Sveinbjörn Egilsson (1860), Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, Hafniæ: Societas regia antiquariorum septentrionalium, p. 719
12. ^ a b Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. skata
13. ^ a b Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
14. ^ Wallenberg, Joel C.; Ingason, Anton Karl; Sigurðsson, Einar Freyr; Rögnvaldsson, Eiríkur, Icelandic Parsed Historical Corpus, version 0.9