Etymology

askance

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Today it means: Of a glance or look: with disapproval, skepticism, or suspicion. Full definition →

Old French a escone ← Italian a scancio
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The story

  1. Italian · derived froma scancio“obliquely”
  2. Old French · derived froma escone“hidden”
  3. English todayaskance

Unknown. Possibly from Middle English askances (“as if”), or from Old French a escone (“hidden”) or Italian a scancio (“obliquely”). Compare asquint, Middle English askoyn (“at a slant, askance”), Dutch schuin, schuins (“sideways”), schuiven (“to shove”), schuinte (“slope”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.