Etymology

shuck

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Today it means: The shell or husk, especially of grains (e.g. corn/maize) or nuts (e.g. walnuts). Full definition →

Middle English *schulk(e) ← Old English *sċylluc
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shuck · noun, verb1

  1. Middle English · derived fromschulle
  2. Old English · derived fromsċyll“shell”
  3. Old English · inherited from*sċylluc
  4. Middle English · inherited from*schulk(e)
  5. English todayshuck

Origin unknown. Possibly a dialectal survival of unrecorded Middle English *schulk(e), *schullok (“small shell”); either from Old English *sċylluc, *sċylloc, diminutive of Old English sċyll (“shell”), or alternatively created in Middle English from Middle English schulle, schelle (“shell, husk, pod”) + -ok, making it equivalent to shell + -ock (diminutive suffix) or shell + -k (diminutive suffix).

shuck · verb2

From a dialectal variant of shock.

shuck · noun3

  1. Old English · inherited fromsċucca“an evil spirit”
  2. Middle English · inherited fromshucke
  3. English todayshuck

Possibly from Middle English shucke, schucke (“demon, monster”), from Old English sċucca (“an evil spirit”).

Shuck · proper noun4

  1. Old English · derived fromscucca“evil spirit”
  2. English todayShuck

* As an English surname, from Old English scucca (“evil spirit”). * As a German andJewish surname, Americanized from Schuck.

Words from the same roots

Old Englishsċucca all →

Shockley

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.