sker

Forms

sker n (genitive plural skerja) (strong ja-stem)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Germanic *skarją (“cliff, islet”),^[1][2] a ja-stem neuter.^[3][4] De Vries explains it as “something cut up”, from the root of skera “to cut”, unless it comes from a form *skariþ, related to skarð “notch”, as Hellquist proposed;^[5] Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon too takes it as “something that cuts up out of the water or is cut off”.^[6] The root is Proto-Indo-European *sker- (“to cut”).^[2][7]

Related by ablaut are Old English scorian (“to jut out”) and Old High German scorro (“crag”).^[2][5] The Middle Low German schere (“rock in the sea”) of Middle Low German is probably taken from Norse.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Menota first dates the noun in the Old Norwegian manuscript DG 8 II (1225–1250), spelled skær and skæren.^[8] In Egils saga in AM 132 fol (1320–1350) it is the rock in the sea, in the plural skerjum and the definite skerit.^[9] Fritzner quotes from the saga sigldu þeir ... til þess er þraut sker öll “they sailed ... until all the skerries came to an end”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The word names a rock in the sea, often covered at high water;^[10][6] Fritzner records an older Norwegian use for a rock that rises above any surrounding flat ground, a field, bog or glacier.^[10][6] In skaldic kennings the skerry is a stone: liðar sker “stone of the joint” is gold, góma sker “skerry of the gums” the teeth.^[11][12] The saying sigla milli skers ok báru is “to sail between the skerry and the wave”.^[13][14]

It spread with Norse seafaring: it was borrowed as Scottish Gaelic sgeir, into Manx and Irish, and as Scots skerry and the English word skerry, recorded from the 1610s.^[15][5][7] De Vries also traces Russian šxery “skerries” to it.^[5]

Timeline

• 1225–1250 – skær and skæren in DG 8 II.^[8]
• 1270–1280 – the genitive plural skeria in AM 243 bα fol.^[16]
• 1300 – skærett in the Norwegian charter DN 2:58.^[17]
• 1320–1350 – sker, skerjum and skerit in Egils saga in AM 132 fol.^[9]
• 1610s – English skerry, from the Norse word.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. a skerry, a rock in the sea, often covered at high water.^[13][11]
2. a rock standing up from flat ground, a bog or a glacier.^[10][18]
3. (poetic, in kennings) a stone.^[19][12]

Word family

• blindsker
• eyðisker
• útsker
• skerjóttr

Descendants

• Icelandic sker^[1]
• Faroese sker^[1]
• Norwegian Nynorsk skjer^[1]
• Norwegian Bokmål skjær^[1]
• Swedish skär^[1]
• Danish skær^[1]
• Scots skerry^[1]
• English skerry^[7]
• Scottish Gaelic sgeir^[15]
• Russian шхера (šxera)^[1]

Related words

• skera
• skarð

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2014), Germanisches Wörterbuch, 5th ed., online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling
3. ^ a b Torp, Alf (1909), Wortschatz der germanischen Spracheinheit (Fick, Vergleichendes Wörterbuch der indogermanischen Sprachen, 4th ed., vol. 3), Göttingen, p. 454
4. ^ Köbler, Gerhard, Altnordisches Wörterbuch, online, koeblergerhard.de/wikiling (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary database copy), p. s.v. sker
5. ^ a b c d de Vries, Jan (1977), Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 2nd ed., Leiden: Brill, p. 490
6. ^ a b c Ásgeir Blöndal Magnússon (1989), Íslensk orðsifjabók, Reykjavík: Orðabók Háskólans, ordsifjabok.arnastofnun.is, p. s.v. sker
7. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. DG 8 II
9. ^ a b Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 132 fol
10. ^ a b c d Fritzner, Johan (1886–1896), Ordbog over det gamle norske Sprog, 2nd ed., Kristiania, p. s.v. sker
11. ^ a b Faulkes, Anthony (2011), A New Introduction to Old Norse III: Glossary and Index of Names, 4th ed., London: Viking Society for Northern Research, p. s.v. sker
12. ^ a b Finnur Jónsson (1931), Lexicon Poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, 2nd ed., Copenhagen: S. L. Møller, p. 505
13. ^ a b Zoëga, Geir T. (1910), A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. sker
14. ^ Cleasby, Richard; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1874), An Icelandic-English Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 544
15. ^ a b Cox, Richard A. V. (2024–2026), Old Norse Loan-Words in Scottish Gaelic, Clann Tuirc, richardavcox.scot/ONlwSG, p. s.v. sgeir
16. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. AM 243 bα fol
17. ^ Menota: Medieval Nordic Text Archive, menota.org (texts by shelfmark; CC BY-SA 4.0), p. DN 2:58
18. ^ Hægstad, Marius; Torp, Alf (1909), Gamalnorsk ordbok med nynorsk tyding, Kristiania: Det norske samlaget, p. 387
19. ^ Sveinbjörn Egilsson (1860), Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis, Hafniæ: Societas regia antiquariorum septentrionalium, p. 724