Etymology

shoulder

shoul·der
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Today it means: The part of the human torso forming a relatively horizontal surface running away from the neck. Full definition →

Middle English schuldre ← Old English sċuldra ← Proto-West Germanic *skuldru
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The story

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*skelduz“shield”
  2. Proto-West Germanic · inherited from*skuldru“shoulder”
  3. Old English · inherited fromsċuldra
  4. Middle English · inherited fromschuldre
  5. English todayshoulder

From Middle English schuldre, sholder, shulder, schulder, from Old English sċuldra, sċuldor (“shoulder”), from Proto-West Germanic *skuldru (“shoulder”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skelduz (“shield”), see shield. Cognate with Old Frisian skuldere (“shoulder”) (West Frisian skouder (“shoulder”)), Middle Low German scholder (“shoulder”), Low German Schuller, Schulder (“shoulder”), Dutch schouder (“shoulder”), German Schulter (“shoulder”).

Words from the same roots

Proto-Germanic*skelduz all →

shield

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.