Etymology

scrab

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Today it means: To scrape or scratch. Full definition →

Old French schrabben ← Frankish *skaban ← Proto-Germanic *skabaną
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scrab · verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*skabʰ-“to scratch”
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*skabaną
  3. Frankish · derived from*skaban
  4. Old French · derived fromschrabben“to scrape, scratch”
  5. English todayscrab

From Middle French and Old French schrabben (“to scrape, scratch”), from Frankish *skaban, from Proto-Germanic *skabaną, from Proto-Indo-European *skabʰ- (“to scratch”); compare Old High German skaban, Irish scríobann and sgrìoban.

scrab · noun2

  1. Middle English · inherited fromscrabbe
  2. English todayscrab

From Middle English scrabbe, variant of crabbe (“crabapple”); ultimately of Germanic origin, plausibly from North Germanic, cognate with Swedish dialect scrabba, krabbäpple.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*skabaną all →

shave

Proto-Indo-European*skabʰ- all →

shavescabrous

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.