Etymology

skimp

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Today it means: To mock, deride, scorn, scold, make fun of. Full definition →

Proto-Germanic *skimpijaną
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skimp · verb1

  1. Proto-Germanic · derived from*skimpijaną“to skip, dance, gesture, mock”
  2. English todayskimp

Perhaps of North Germanic origin, ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skimpijaną (“to skip, dance, gesture, mock”). Cognate with Icelandic skimpa (“to scoff at, scorn”), dialectal Swedish skimpa (“to skip, dance”), Faroese skumpa (“to shove, bump”), German schimpfen (“to grumble, scold”), Dutch schimpen (“to mock, make fun of, scold”). Possibly distantly related to change.

skimp · verb, adjective, noun2

Probably related to scamp and scrimp.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.