shock English · revision 5060

+ English has three words shock: a sudden blow or upset, from French; a stack of sheaves, from Germanic; and a mass of hair, of uncertain origin.^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ʃɒk/, US /ʃɑːk/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ {{homograph|1|blow}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1565|origins=frm choc}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|choc|t=violent attack]], from Old French choquer “to strike against”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) probably of Germanic origin; compare Middle Dutch schokken “to push, jolt”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(MWU 2024) Hoad calls the French verb of unknown origin.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The clash of armed forces in battle, a military term: 1565 in the OED, MWU and Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(MWU 2024)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The verb, to throw troops into confusion or weaken by impact, is from 1568.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) A sudden violent blow or collision is from 1614,^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) a sudden disturbing impression on the mind by 1705,^(Etymonline) and the verb “to offend, horrify” from Congreve's The Double Dealer in 1694.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) An electric shock is by 1746,^(Etymonline) and the medical condition of collapse after injury by 1804.^(Etymonline) ''Shocking'' is from 1697 and meant “offensive” from 1703.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Cresswell 2021) ''Shock troops'' (1917) translates German Stoßtruppen and keeps the old military sense.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1565 – a clash in battle.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1568 – verb, to weaken by a charge.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1614 – a violent blow.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1694 – verb, to offend.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989)

+ * 1746 – an electric shock.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1804 – medical shock.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1906 – ''shock absorber''.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A sudden upsetting experience, or the feeling it causes.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # A violent blow or impact.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(medicine)'' A dangerous state of collapse after injury or loss of blood.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The effect of an electric current passing through the body.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To cause someone to feel surprise and distress.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To [[offend]] or disgust.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To give an electric shock to.^(AHD)

+

+ {{homograph|2|sheaves}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1325|origins=gem-pro *skukka-}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|schokke]],^(Barnhart 1988) perhaps from an unrecorded Old English word,^(Etymonline)^(Hoad 1986) or it is [[bor|gml|schok|t=shock of corn, group of sixty]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) from Proto-Germanic *skukka-, the source also of Dutch schok and German Schock “sixty”.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Anglo-Latin socca (12th century) suggests the word was in English earlier.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A group of sheaves of grain set upright against one another to dry: about 1325 in the OED, before 1325 in Barnhart.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ A crowd of people or a heap of things is from about 1430.^(OED 1989) The verb, to set sheaves in shocks, is from before 1338 in Barnhart, about 1440 in the OED.^(Barnhart 1988)^(OED 1989) A lot of sixty pieces, in trade, is recorded from 1391.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1325 – a stack of sheaves.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1391 – a lot of sixty.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1440 – verb, to stack sheaves.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A group of [[sheaf|alt=sheaves]] of grain stood on end to dry.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To gather sheaves into shocks.^(AHD)

+

+ {{homograph|3|hair}}

+

+ {{infobox|confidence=uncertain|formation=derivation|attested=1819|origins=en shough}}

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is from the earlier adjective shock “having thick hair” (1680s) and the noun shock, a long-haired lapdog (1630s),^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989) from [[shough]] (1590s), the name of such a dog,^(Etymonline)^(Cresswell 2021) perhaps from the same source as shock “sheaves”, or from an Old Norse variant of [[shag]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A thick mass of hair: 1819.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The adjective, of rough thick hair, is from 1681,^(OED 1989) and a shaggy dog such as a poodle was a ''shock'' from 1638.^(OED 1989)^(Cresswell 2021) ''Shock-headed Peter'' was used in 19th-century translations for German Struwwelpeter.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1638 – a shaggy dog.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1681 – adjective, shaggy.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1819 – a mass of hair.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A thick, untidy mass of hair.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[shocking]]

+ * [[shag]]

+ * [[shough]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}