Etymology

sharp

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Today it means: Terminating in a point or edge, especially one that can cut or pierce easily; not dull, obtuse, or rounded. Full definition →

Middle English scharp ← Old English sċearp ← Proto-West Germanic *skarp
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sharp · adjective, adverb, noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · inherited from*(s)kerb-
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*skarpaz
  3. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*skarp
  4. Old English · inherited fromsċearp
  5. Middle English · inherited fromscharp
  6. English todaysharp

From Middle English scharp, from Old English sċearp, from Proto-West Germanic *skarp, from Proto-Germanic *skarpaz, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kerb-, from *(s)ker- (“to cut”). Cognate with West Frisian skerp, Low German scherp, scharp, schaarp, Dutch scherp, German scharf, Danish skarp. Compare Irish cearb (“keen; cutting”), Latin acerbus (“tart, bitter”), Tocharian B kärpye (“rough”), Latvian skârbs (“sharp, rough”), Russian щерба (ščerba, “notch”), Polish szczerba (“gap, dent, jag, chip, nick, notch”), Albanian harb (“rudeness”). More at shear.

Sharp · proper noun2

* As an English, Scottish and occasionally Irish (translated from géar) surname, from the adjective sharp. * As a German surname, Americanized from scharf (“sharp”), same meaning as above.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.