scurf

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*(s)ker-“to cut off, sever; to divide, separate”
2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*skurf-“to gnaw”
3. Old English · inherited fromscurf
4. English todayscurf

From scurf (“skin disease causing scabs or scales; flakes of skin that fall off due to a skin disease, etc.”), from Old English scurf, from Proto-Germanic *skurf- (“to gnaw”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, sever; to divide, separate”). Cognate with Dutch schurft, German Schorf, Danish skurv, Swedish skorv.

Words from the same roots