The story
- Proto-Germanic · derived from*skrapōną“to scratch”
- Old High German · derived fromscerf
- Middle High German · derived fromscherf
- English todayScherf
From the German surname, reflecting multiple origins: * Middle Low German and Middle High German scherf, a kind of coin, used as a nickname for poor people, from Old High German scerf, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skrapōną (“to scratch”). * From scharf, scharpf, scherf (“eager, rough”) * Habitational surname from Scherfede in Warburg
Words from the same roots
Proto-Germanic*skrapōną all →
scrape
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.