Etymology

skim

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Today it means: To pass lightly; to glide along in an even, smooth course; to glide along near the surface. Full definition →

Middle English skemen ← Old French escumer ← Frankish *skūm
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The story

  1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*skew-“to cover, conceal”
  2. Proto-Germanic · derived from*skūmaz“foam”
  3. Frankish · derived from*skūm“froth, foam”
  4. Old French · derived fromescumer“to remove scum”
  5. Middle English · inherited fromskemen
  6. English todayskim

From Middle English skemen, skymen, variants of scumen, from Old French escumer (“to remove scum”), from escume (“froth, foam”), from Frankish *skūm (“froth, foam”), from Proto-Germanic *skūmaz (“foam”), from Proto-Indo-European *skew- (“to cover, conceal”). See scum.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.