*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of skiff

From Middle English skif, from Middle French esquif, from Old Italian schifo (“small boat”), from Lombardic skif (“boat”), from Proto-Germanic *skipą (“boat, ship”). Doublet of ship.

3 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 3 source sections

The source etymologies

Wiktionary via Kaikki / Wiktextract

The source reports below are imported and unreviewed by *SET-U. Separate numbered origins and differing source variants are preserved; agreement within this extraction is not independent corroboration.

Source etymology 1 · variant 1/2

Original entry ↗
verb

To navigate in a skiff.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English skif, from Middle French esquif, from Old Italian schifo (“small boat”), from Lombardic skif (“boat”), from Proto-Germanic *skipą (“boat, ship”). Doublet of ship.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Root classification mention*skey-ine-pro
  • Inherited-form mentionskifenm
  • Derivation mentionesquiffrm
  • Derivation mention*skipągem-pro · boat, ship
  • Doublet mentionshipen
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*skey-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "skif"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English skif"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "frm",
        "3": "esquif"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle French esquif"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "roa-oit",
        "3": "schifo",
        "t": "small boat"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Italian schifo (“small boat”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "lng",
        "3": "skif",
        "t": "boat"
      },
      "expansion": "Lombardic skif (“boat”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*skipą",
        "t": "boat, ship"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *skipą (“boat, ship”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ship"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of ship"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "skif",
      "skif#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "esquif",
      "esquif#Middle_French"
    ],
    [
      "schifo",
      "schifo#Italian"
    ],
    [
      "skif",
      "skif#Old_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "*skipą",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/skipą"
    ],
    [
      "ship",
      "ship#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To navigate in a skiff."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "transitive"
      ],
      "recordId": "6d78156e02f9b33363c2685a47722e65307ef89a5d109907afe517b1891339b4",
      "rawRecordSha256": "8ed20ea8b8ad2a725daa6472dcc676a8cd7b022a7aaf20968acb6ea5d9f4b75e",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 478802
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 1 · variant 2/2

Original entry ↗
noun

A small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and square stern. · Any of various types of boats small enough for sailing or rowing by one person.

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Middle English skif, from Middle French esquif, from Old Italian schifo (“small boat”), from Lombardic skif (“boat”), from Proto-Germanic *skipą (“boat, ship”). Doublet of ship.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

  • Root classification mention*skey-ine-pro
  • Inherited-form mentionskifenm
  • Derivation mentionesquiffrm
  • Derivation mention*skipągem-pro · boat, ship
  • Doublet mentionshipen
Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "root",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ine-pro",
        "3": "*skey-"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    },
    {
      "name": "inh",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "skif"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English skif"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "frm",
        "3": "esquif"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle French esquif"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "roa-oit",
        "3": "schifo",
        "t": "small boat"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Italian schifo (“small boat”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "lng",
        "3": "skif",
        "t": "boat"
      },
      "expansion": "Lombardic skif (“boat”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*skipą",
        "t": "boat, ship"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *skipą (“boat, ship”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "doublet",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ship"
      },
      "expansion": "Doublet of ship"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "skif",
      "skif#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "esquif",
      "esquif#Middle_French"
    ],
    [
      "schifo",
      "schifo#Italian"
    ],
    [
      "skif",
      "skif#Old_High_German"
    ],
    [
      "*skipą",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/skipą"
    ],
    [
      "ship",
      "ship#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [
    {
      "lang": "Russian",
      "lang_code": "ru",
      "word": "скиф",
      "raw_tags": [
        "borrowed"
      ],
      "roman": "skif"
    }
  ],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and square stern.",
        "Any of various types of boats small enough for sailing or rowing by one person."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "87ecaa546430d5ed0ba3a4e87b5850d8f066ee33df2ba019927c60b63856ceef",
      "rawRecordSha256": "5ad253e4637a892ec02356a23ebe5274749b6d6b985ff883066327789ba5f272",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 478801
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
noun

A light, fleeting shower of rain or snow, or gust of wind, etc. · A (typically light) dusting of snow or ice (or dust, etc) (on ground, water, trees, etc).

verb

To fall lightly or briefly, and lightly cover the ground (etc).

Selected source glosses provide context, not a complete modern definition inventory

From Scots skiff (“light shower of rain or snow”), from skiff (“move lightly”); compare the derivative skiffle (whence English skiffle) and (English skift (“light dusting of snow”) from) Scots skift (“light shower of snow”), from skift (“move lightly”), perhaps related to shift/Old Norse skipta, or perhaps an onomatopoeic formation.

Relationships mentioned by the source

These are extracted mentions, not a timeline or a verified sequence of immediate parents.

Inspect preserved source fields

Raw extraction fields are retained for auditing. Their order does not establish ancestry.

{
  "templates": [
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "sco",
        "3": "skiff",
        "4": "",
        "5": "light shower of rain or snow"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots skiff (“light shower of rain or snow”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "skiffle"
      },
      "expansion": "English skiffle"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "skift",
        "3": "",
        "4": "light dusting of snow"
      },
      "expansion": "English skift (“light dusting of snow”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "sco",
        "2": "skift",
        "3": "",
        "4": "light shower of snow"
      },
      "expansion": "Scots skift (“light shower of snow”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "skipta"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse skipta"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "skiff",
      "skiff#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "skiff",
      "skiff#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "skiffle",
      "skiffle#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "skiffle",
      "skiffle#English"
    ],
    [
      "skift",
      "skift#English"
    ],
    [
      "skift",
      "skift#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "skift",
      "skift#Scots"
    ],
    [
      "shift",
      "shift#English"
    ],
    [
      "skipta",
      "skipta#Old_Norse"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A light, fleeting shower of rain or snow, or gust of wind, etc.",
        "A (typically light) dusting of snow or ice (or dust, etc) (on ground, water, trees, etc)."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "8fdea3bd0babb6861dbcbb98395b91f53ca5f447763bf3c6bd05db24c798865e",
      "rawRecordSha256": "9816b4dfa3dcf253b4793c29d754fda9e5b2cce72f7c822fa7b7b87116eba97b",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 478803
    },
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To fall lightly or briefly, and lightly cover the ground (etc)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal"
      ],
      "recordId": "f139c9945f5edabb2b7c556220d42e943166afba44f7ed078548f569dab49db3",
      "rawRecordSha256": "d9a95c7ebc1e16b63d454e8b53aae6fb64b0adae754b2c0a5a572645324794e3",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 478804
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Where this record stops

This page does not supply an independently verified sound-change sequence, first-use manuscript or complete family tree unless a cited analysis explicitly establishes one. Missing detail here is a limit of this record—not a claim that humanity knows nothing more.

An older meaning does not determine what a word must mean today. Follow the sources, preserve disagreements, and keep ancestry separate from interpretation.

Contribute located evidence for skiff →

Source and snapshot

Imported from Wiktionary contributors; extracted by Tatu Ylonen / Wiktextract / Kaikki.org. Selected fields are reformatted and grouped; wording, source identity and etymology sections are retained. CC-BY-SA-4.0 applies to the imported source material.

Dump: 2026-10-01 · Extracted: 2026-10-30. These are snapshot dates, not the word’s first attestation or the page’s revision date.

Source entry and bibliography ↗Wiktionary revision history ↗Acquisition and rights ledger
Machine-source provenance
Source SHA-256
5ff2c072f8099f2d2ce484bd6957bf179f046d2ad37bc36555edf8bb84cb5291
Import run
73216b9a9b78ed3830994bf853103716f5a4dc57099e371e9f8fdc468facca26
Permanent entry ID
w-c2tpZmY