scout

scout · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ew-
2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ṓws
3. Proto-Italic*ausis
4. Proto-Indo-European*ḱel-
5. Proto-Indo-European*ḱlew-
6. Proto-Italic*auskoltā
7. Latinauscultō
8. Latinascultō
9. Old Frenchescouterdeverb.
10. Old Frenchescoute
11. Middle Englishscout
12. English todayscout

From Middle English scout, scoult, from Old French escoute (“action of listening”), verbal noun from escouter (“to listen, heed”), from Latin auscultō (“to listen”). The verb comes from the noun.

scout · verb²

1. North Germanic · derived from
2. English todayscout

Of North Germanic origin. Compare Old Norse skúta, skúti (“taunt”), Middle English scoute (“a wretch, rascal, rogue”); thus may be related to English shout.

scout · noun³

1. Old Norse · derived fromskúta“a small craft or cutter”
2. Middle Dutch · derived fromschute
3. Middle Low German · derived fromschûte
4. Middle English · inherited fromscoute
5. English todayscout

From Middle English scoute, skoute (also schoute, shoute, schuyt), from Middle Low German schûte or Middle Dutch schute; or possibly from Old Norse skúta (“a small craft or cutter”). Compare shout (“flat-bottomed boat”), schuit.

scout · verb, noun⁴

Uncertain. The Dictionary of the Scots Language (DSL) groups the verb scout, scoot (/skut/, regionally /skʌut/) "cause liquid to gush" with a noun scout "sudden gush or flow of water, as from a spout or over rock", and considers the pair to be of Scandinavian origin, perhaps related to Old Norse skjóta (“shoot”); however, scout (or scut) was formerly also found as a word for "flow of water over rocks, waterfall; ridge or overhang of rocks" in various northern and central English dialects, and there suggested to have a different Norse origin, Old Norse skúti (“cave formed by jutting rocks”); it is possible that noun and the verb are unrelated. It is also unclear whether the noun meaning "guillemot" is related (the DSL gives it as a separate word, with separate spellings scout, scowt, skout, pronounced /skut/, of uncertain origin), but it might derive from their habit of pouring forth excrement.

Words from the same roots