*SET-U

English word origin

Etymology of skive

Probably from French esquiver (“slink away”), from Middle French esquiver (“to escape”), from Spanish esquivar (“to avoid, reject, elude”), from esquivo (“contemptuous, loathsome”), itself from Old French eschiver, of Ea

2 source sectionsExtended source reportWiktionary original ↗
In this entry · 2 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

Original entry ↗
verb

To avoid one's lessons or work (chiefly at school or university); shirk.

noun

Something very easy, where one can slack off without penalty. · An act of avoiding lessons or work.

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

Probably from French esquiver (“slink away”), from Middle French esquiver (“to escape”), from Spanish esquivar (“to avoid, reject, elude”), from esquivo (“contemptuous, loathsome”), itself from Old French eschiver, of East Germanic origin, from Gothic *𐍃𐌺𐌹𐌿𐌷𐍃 (*skiuhs, “afraid, barefaced”), from Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“afraid, frightened”). Cognate with English shy, eschew.

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": "fr",
        "3": "esquiver",
        "t": "slink away"
      },
      "expansion": "French esquiver (“slink away”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "frm",
        "3": "esquiver",
        "t": "to escape"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle French esquiver (“to escape”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "es",
        "3": "esquivar",
        "t": "to avoid, reject, elude"
      },
      "expansion": "Spanish esquivar (“to avoid, reject, elude”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "fro",
        "3": "eschiver"
      },
      "expansion": "Old French eschiver"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gme"
      },
      "expansion": "East Germanic"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "got",
        "3": "*𐍃𐌺𐌹𐌿𐌷𐍃",
        "t": "afraid, barefaced"
      },
      "expansion": "Gothic *𐍃𐌺𐌹𐌿𐌷𐍃 (*skiuhs, “afraid, barefaced”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*skeuhaz",
        "t": "afraid, frightened"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *skeuhaz (“afraid, frightened”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "shy"
      },
      "expansion": "English shy"
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "esquiver",
      "esquiver#French"
    ],
    [
      "slink",
      "slink"
    ],
    [
      "esquiver",
      "esquiver#Middle_French"
    ],
    [
      "esquivar",
      "esquivar#Spanish"
    ],
    [
      "esquivo",
      "esquivo#Spanish"
    ],
    [
      "eschiver",
      "eschiver#Old_French"
    ],
    [
      "*𐍃𐌺𐌹𐌿𐌷𐍃",
      "Reconstruction:Gothic/𐍃𐌺𐌹𐌿𐌷𐍃"
    ],
    [
      "*skeuhaz",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/skeuhaz"
    ],
    [
      "shy",
      "shy#English"
    ],
    [
      "eschew",
      "eschew#English"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To avoid one's lessons or work (chiefly at school or university); shirk."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Commonwealth",
        "Ireland",
        "UK",
        "informal"
      ],
      "recordId": "0039d2f5dfe3f3297740eb360204a4494a8b8dda0d7fb74af0da5e3104e9a0bf",
      "rawRecordSha256": "23b09d7386ec59b49d4dac54b7d0232d4f66fdd0db194d66e5ffb1bc8fff1dcf",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 239553
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "Something very easy, where one can slack off without penalty.",
        "An act of avoiding lessons or work."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Commonwealth",
        "Ireland",
        "UK",
        "informal"
      ],
      "recordId": "c6d15e9d5ce778d9c2b401a6cb846d6a72ca585173de4d6624dc32ca31cf2f85",
      "rawRecordSha256": "3d22d2dbdd5840c61b6410e6206560a2a8425ec2bc94a0fc5a9df3caa81cd9c4",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 239554
    }
  ],
  "omittedAuxiliaryFields": {
    "templates": 0,
    "links": 0,
    "references": 0,
    "descendants": 0,
    "lexicalRecords": 0,
    "lexicalSenses": 0,
    "glosses": 0
  }
}

Source etymology 2

Original entry ↗
verb

To pare or shave off the rough or thick parts of.

noun

A rotating iron disk coated with oil and diamond dust used to polish the facets of a diamond. · An angled cut or bevel at the edge of something.

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

Probably from Dutch schijf (“slice”), probably influenced by shive. Ultimately from Proto-Germanic *skībǭ (“a shaving; slice”). Cognate to English shive, German Scheibe (“slice”), Old Norse skífa (“to cut into slices, slice”).

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": "nl",
        "3": "schijf",
        "4": "",
        "5": "slice"
      },
      "expansion": "Dutch schijf (“slice”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "der",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "gem-pro",
        "3": "*skībǭ",
        "t": "a shaving; slice"
      },
      "expansion": "Proto-Germanic *skībǭ (“a shaving; slice”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "shive"
      },
      "expansion": "English shive"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "de",
        "2": "Scheibe",
        "3": "",
        "4": "slice"
      },
      "expansion": "German Scheibe (“slice”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "cog",
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "skífa",
        "3": "",
        "4": "to cut into slices, slice"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse skífa (“to cut into slices, slice”)"
    },
    {
      "name": "wp",
      "args": {
        "1": ",skiving (metalworking)"
      },
      "expansion": ""
    }
  ],
  "links": [
    [
      "schijf",
      "schijf#Dutch"
    ],
    [
      "shive",
      "shive#English"
    ],
    [
      "*skībǭ",
      "Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/skībǭ"
    ],
    [
      "shive",
      "shive#English"
    ],
    [
      "Scheibe",
      "Scheibe#German"
    ],
    [
      "skífa",
      "skífa#Old_Norse"
    ]
  ],
  "references": [],
  "descendants": [],
  "lexical": [
    {
      "pos": "verb",
      "glosses": [
        "To pare or shave off the rough or thick parts of."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "b55eac6fd4a797784b17ab53b4bc66069ca3b8a8f768cfd32c32fa2730edfda6",
      "rawRecordSha256": "37671573d8c29edf3cbc2e12975c9eecc77a963662ae680cc89511f0f0d9b593",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 239556
    },
    {
      "pos": "noun",
      "glosses": [
        "A rotating iron disk coated with oil and diamond dust used to polish the facets of a diamond.",
        "An angled cut or bevel at the edge of something."
      ],
      "tags": [],
      "recordId": "dfa1736bdc132af12b9934a44f3eb97153912285c5769a50d3db7eecef4841cb",
      "rawRecordSha256": "46d6a907f7b9f28439c72c0eae374acc7ec4e17c69beded8be3e48481737f1cd",
      "sourceRecordOrdinal": 239555
    }
  ],
  "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 skive →

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-c2tpdmU