scare

scare · noun¹

1. Middle English · derived fromskerren“to frighten”
2. Middle English · inherited fromsker
3. English todayscare

From Middle English sker, skere (“terror, fright”), from the verb Middle English skerren (“to frighten”) (see below).

scare · verb²

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)ker-“to swing, jump, move”
2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*skirzijaną“to shoo, scare off”
3. Old Norse · derived fromskirra“to frighten; to shrink away from, shun; to prevent, avert”
4. Middle English · inherited fromscaren
5. English todayscare

From Middle English scaren, skaren, scarren, skeren, skerren, from Old Norse skirra (“to frighten; to shrink away from, shun; to prevent, avert”), from Proto-Germanic *skirzijaną (“to shoo, scare off”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to swing, jump, move”). Related to Old Norse skjarr (“timid, shy, afraid of”). Cognate with Scots skar (“wild, timid, shy”), dialectal Norwegian Nynorsk skjerra, dialectal Swedish skjarra and possibly Old Armenian ցիռ (cʻiṙ, “wild ass”), Ancient Greek σκαίρω (skaírō, “to frolic”).

Words from the same roots