Etymology

skid

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Today it means: An out-of-control sliding motion as would result from applying the brakes too hard in a car or other vehicle. Full definition →

Middle English *skid ← Old Norse skíð ← Proto-Germanic *skīdą
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skid · noun, verb1

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*skey-t-
  2. Proto-Germanic · inherited from*skīdą“log, clapboard”
  3. Old Norse · derived fromskíð“a billet of wood, a beam or plank on which something rests”
  4. Middle English · inherited from*skid
  5. English todayskid

From Middle English *skid, from Old Norse skíð (“a billet of wood, a beam or plank on which something rests”), from Proto-Germanic *skīdą (“log, clapboard”), from Proto-Indo-European *skey-t-, *skey- (“to split, divide, separate”). Cognate with English shide, from Middle English schyd, schyde, schide (“plank, beam”), German Scheit (“piece of wood, log”). Doublet of ski.

skid · noun2

Shortening of stepkid.

skid · noun, verb3

Shortened from script kiddie, probably via skiddie.

Words from the same roots

Old Norseskíð all →

ski

Proto-Germanic*skīdą all →

skishide

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.