sky English · revision 3775

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1200|origins=non ský}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /skaɪ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|skie|t=a cloud]],^(Etymonline) [[bor|non|ský|t=cloud]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) from [[gem-pro|*skeujam|t=cloud, cloud cover]],^(Etymonline) which is also the source of Old English scēo “cloud” and Old Saxon scio “region of the clouds”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from [[ine-pro|*(s)keu-|t=to cover, conceal]].^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) It is related more distantly to Old English scūa and Old Norse skuggi “shadow”, Gothic skuggwa “mirror” and Latin obscūrus “dark”.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) It is related to [[obscure]] and [[hide]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A cloud: about 1200 as a surname, and the mid-13th century as skie, sci, skei,^(Etymonline) or probably before 1200, in the ''Ancrene Riwle'', according to Barnhart.^(Barnhart 1988) The OED dates “a cloud” to about 1220.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The upper regions of the air, the heavens, is from about 1300;^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) in this sense it replaced the native [[heaven]].^(Etymonline) In Middle English it could still mean both cloud and heaven, as in ''the skies'', first “the clouds”.^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) ''Sky-high'' is from 1812, and ''the sky's the limit'' from 1908.^(Etymonline) The verb, to hit or throw a ball high into the air, is from 1802,^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) and to hang a painting near the ceiling of an exhibition by 1865.^(Etymonline) ''Sky-writing'' is from 1922 and ''sky-diving'' from 1959.^(Etymonline) To ''skyjack'' an aircraft is American English from 1961.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1200 – a cloud.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * c. 1300 – the heavens.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1802 – verb, to hit a ball high.^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1812 – ''sky-high''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1908 – ''the sky's the limit''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1922 – ''sky-writing''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1959 – ''sky-diving''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1961 – ''skyjack''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The expanse of air above the earth, the upper [[atmosphere]] as seen from the ground.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The appearance of the sky, as regards weather: ''cloudy skies''.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The heavens; the celestial regions.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # The highest level or degree.^(AHD)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To hit or throw a ball high into the air.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # To hang a painting high on a wall.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[skyless]]

+ * [[skylike]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[obscure]]

+ * [[hide]]

+ * [[heaven]]

+ * [[skylark]]

+ * [[skyline]]

+ * [[skyscraper]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In Shetland and Orkney a ''sky'' was a small board taking the place of the mould-board in a plough.^(Wright 1898)^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}