Etymology

sheaf

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Today it means: A quantity of the stalks and ears of wheat, rye, or other grain, bound together; a bundle of grain or straw. Full definition →

Middle English scheef ← Old English sċēaf ← Proto-West Germanic *skaub
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*skauba-“sheaf”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*skaub
  3. Old English · inherited fromsċēaf
  4. Middle English · inherited fromscheef
  5. English todaysheaf

From Middle English scheef, from Old English sċēaf, from Proto-West Germanic *skaub, from Proto-Germanic *skauba- (“sheaf”). Cognates Akin to West Frisian skeaf (“sheaf”), Dutch schoof (“sheaf”), German Schaub, Old Norse skauf (“a fox's tail”). Compare further Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐍆𐍄 (skuft, “hair of the head”), German Schopf (“tuft”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.