Etymology

sgian dubh

sgi·an dubh

Today it means: A small, single-edged knife worn tucked into the hose (stocking) as part of traditional Scottish Highland dress along with the kilt. Full definition →

Scottish Gaelic sgian-dubh ← Proto-Indo-European *sek-
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*dʰewbʰ-“deep”
  2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*sek-“to cut; to cut off, sever”
  3. Scottish Gaelic · borrowed fromsgian-dubh
  4. English todaysgian dubh

Borrowed from Scottish Gaelic sgian-dubh: sgian (“knife”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sek- (“to cut; to cut off, sever”)) + dubh (“black; (figurative) hidden”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“deep”)). The plural form sgianan dubha is also borrowed from Scottish Gaelic.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*sek- all →

sawsaxSaxonscytherisquéscyesiglum

Proto-Indo-European*dʰewbʰ- all →

deepbuttdeafdubBlackaddertyphuspythonicdaff

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.