shore

shore · noun, verb¹

1. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*skurô“rugged rock, cliff, high rocky shore”
2. Old English · inherited from*sċora
3. Middle English · inherited fromschore
4. English todayshore

From Middle English schore, from Old English *sċora (attested as sċor- in placenames), from Proto-Germanic *skurô (“rugged rock, cliff, high rocky shore”). Possibly related to Old English sċieran (“to cut”), which survives today as English shear. Cognate with Middle Dutch scorre (“land washed by the sea”), Middle Low German schor (“shore, coast, headland”), Middle High German schorre ("rocky crag, high rocky shore"; > German Schorre, Schorren (“towering rock, crag”)), and Limburgish sjaor (“riverbank”). Maybe connected with Norwegian Bokmål skjær.

shore · noun²

1. Middle Low German · derived fromschōre
2. Middle Dutch · derived fromschore
3. Middle English · inherited fromshore“a prop, a support”
4. English todayshore

From Late Middle English shore (“a prop, a support”) [and other forms], from Middle Dutch schore, schare (“a prop, a stay”) (modern Dutch schoor), and Middle Low German schōre, schāre (“a prop, a stay; barrier; stockade”) (compare Old Norse skorða (“a prop, a stay”) (Norwegian skor, skorda)); further etymology unknown.

shore · verb³

1. Middle English · inherited fromshore“a prop, a support”
2. Middle English · inherited fromshoren“to prop, to support”
3. English todayshore

From Late Middle English shoren (“to prop, to support”) [and other forms], from Middle English shore (“a prop, a support”) (see etymology 2) + -en (suffix forming the infinitive form of verbs); compare Middle Dutch schooren (“to prop up, support”) and Middle Low German schore (“to shovel; to sweep”).

shore · verb⁴

See shear.

shore · noun⁵

Originally common-shore.

shore · verb⁶

Uncertain. The word is attested in Northern English and Scots; the DSL states that schore "to threaten" is attested before 1400 (a corresponding noun schoyr is attested since 1375: "vith gret schoyr and mannasyng" in Barbour's Bruce), and suggests it might ultimately be related to Old Scots schoir "steep (of a crag)", related to shear. Alternatively, it has been suggested that it might be a variant of score or sure and related to assure.

Shore · proper noun⁷

* As an English surname, from the noun shore. * As a Jewish surname, spelling variant of Schorr, Szor, Schauer.

Words from the same roots