shrithe

The story

1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*skrīþaną“to walk, go, slither, crawl”
2. Proto-West Germanic · derived from*skrīþan
3. Old English · learned borrowing fromsċrīþan“to go; take one's way to a place; go about; wander”
4. English todayshrithe

Coined by English writer and translator Kevin Crossley-Holland (born 1941): a semi-learned borrowing from Old English sċrīþan (“to go; take one's way to a place; go about; wander”), from Proto-West Germanic *skrīþan, from Proto-Germanic *skrīþaną (“to walk, go, slither, crawl”). Cognate with Dutch schrijden (“to stride”), German schreiten (“to stride, step, proceed”), Icelandic skríða (“to slither, creep, crawl”). As shrithe was a class I strong verb in Old English, were it inherited, the expected forms would be: simple past: *shrothe, and past-participle: *shrithen. It is important to note, however, that Crossley-Holland did not use these forms and therefore has ahistorically treated shrithe as weak verb.

Words from the same roots