shoulder English · revision 4820

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=a. 700|origins=gmw-pro *skuldru}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈʃəʊl.dər/, US /ˈʃoʊl.dɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|shulder]], sholder, [[inh|ang|sculdor]],^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from [[gmw-pro|*skuldru]],^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) the source also of Old Frisian skuldere, Dutch schouder and German Schulter.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Its origin is unknown;^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) Etymonline suggests a link with [[shield]], and Barnhart a root meaning “shoulder blade”, used as a tool for digging, compared with Greek skallein “to hoe”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The word is not found in Old Norse, and Swedish and Danish borrowed it from Middle Low German.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The joint and region where the arm joins the trunk: before 700 in the OED.^(OED 1989) Already in Old English it was used figuratively for strength to bear burdens.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The ''shoulder blade'' is from about 1300.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The verb, to push with the shoulder, is also from about 1300, in Havelok the Dane,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) and to take on a burden from the 1580s (Stanyhurst's Aeneid, 1582).^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) The military sense, to carry a musket against the shoulder, is by the 1590s,^(Etymonline) and ''shoulder to shoulder'' (1580s) first described soldiers in formation.^(Etymonline) The edge of a road is from 1933,^(Etymonline) and ''to cry on someone's shoulder'' by 1935.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * a. 700 – the shoulder of a person.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1300 – verb, to push with the shoulder, and ''shoulder blade''.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+ * 1582 – to take on a burden.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1688 – ''shoulder strap''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1933 – the edge of a road.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1951 – ''shoulder-length'' hair.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[joint]] where the [[arm]] joins the body, or the part of the body between the neck and the upper arm.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The corresponding part of an animal, or meat cut from it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The part of a garment that covers the shoulder.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The strip of ground at the edge of a [[road]].^(AHD)^(MWU 2024)

+ # A part of something that sticks out like a shoulder, such as the slope near the top of a [[bottle]] or mountain.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To accept a [[burden]] or [[responsibility]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To push with the shoulder.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To carry on the shoulder.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[shouldered]]

+ * [[cold-shoulder]]

+ * [[straight-from-the-shoulder]]

+ * [[reshoulder]]

+ * [[shoulder bag]]

+ * [[shoulder belt]]

+ * [[shoulder blade]]

+ * [[shoulder season]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[shield]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}