scour

scour · verb, noun¹

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*kʷeys-“to heed”
2. Medieval Latin · derived fromscūrō
3. Old French · derived fromescurer
4. Middle Dutch · derived fromscuren
5. Middle English · inherited fromscǒuren“to polish, scour; to clean; to beat, whip”
6. English todayscour

From Middle English scǒuren (“to polish, scour; to clean; to beat, whip”), from Middle Dutch scuren, schuren (“to clean; to polish”) or Middle Low German schǖren, of uncertain origin but probably from Old French escurer, from Medieval Latin scūrō, escūrō, excūrō (“to clean off”), from ex- (“thoroughly”) + cūrō (“to arrange, see to, take care of”), from cūra (“care, concern”) (from Proto-Indo-European *kʷeys- (“to heed”)) + -ō. The word is cognate with Danish skure, Middle High German schüren, schiuren (modern German scheuern (“to scour, scrub; to chafe”)), Norwegian skura (“to scrub”), Swedish skura, Catalan escurar.

scour · verb²

1. Old Norse · derived fromskýra“to rush in”
2. Middle English · inherited fromscǒuren
3. English todayscour

From Middle English scǒuren, scure, skoure (“to move quickly; to travel around in search of enemies”), from scǒur (“attack, conflict; pang of emotional suffering”), from Old Norse skýra (“to rush in”) and skúr (“a shower; a shower of missiles”), perhaps influenced by the verb scǒuren: see etymology 1.

Words from the same roots