screen

screen · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*skrankaz
2. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*skrank
3. Old Dutch · derived from*scranc“barrier”
4. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*(s)ker-“to cut, divide”
5. Proto-Germanic · derived from*skirmiz“fur, shelter, covering, screen”
6. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*skirmi
7. Old Dutch · derived fromskirm
8. Middle Dutch · derived fromscherm
9. Old French · derived fromescren
10. Anglo-Norman · derived fromescren“firescreen, the tester of a bed”
11. Middle English · inherited fromscren
12. English todayscreen

From Middle English scren, screne (“windscreen, firescreen”), from Anglo-Norman escren (“firescreen, the tester of a bed”), Old French escren, escrein, escran (modern French écran (“screen”)), from Middle Dutch scherm, from Old Dutch skirm, from Proto-West Germanic *skirmi, from Proto-Germanic *skirmiz (“fur, shelter, covering, screen”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut, divide”). Cognate with Dutch scherm (“screen”), German Schirm (“screen”). Doublet of scherm. An alternative etymology derives Old French escren, escran from Old Dutch *scranc (“barrier”) (compare Middle Dutch schranc, schranke (“palisade, trellis, grid”), German Schrank (“cupboard, cabinet”), German Schranke (“fence”)), from Proto-West Germanic *skrank, from Proto-Germanic *skrankaz.

Screen · proper noun²

1. Old French · derived fromescrin“jewel case”
2. English todayScreen

English surname, from Old French escrin (“jewel case”); also from the noun screen.

Words from the same roots