Schiet (German Low German)
Where does "Schiet" come from?
The German Low German noun 'Schiet', meaning 'mud', 'dirt', or 'shit', descends through Middle Low German 'schite' and Old Saxon '*skiti' from Proto-West Germanic '*skiti'[1]. This traces further back to Proto-Germanic '*skitiz' or '*skītaz'[2], which originated as a nominal formation from the verb '*skītaną' meaning 'to shit'[3]. According to Orel, this ultimately derives from the Proto-Indo-European root '*skeyd-' meaning 'to cut off'[4]. Related cognates include German 'Scheiße', Dutch 'schijt', and English 'shit'.
Open questions
- The derivation from Proto-Indo-European '*skeyd-' is accepted by Orel but viewed with implicit skepticism by Kroonen. [4]
Full etymology tree
- Schiet (German Low German), 'mud'
- inherited schite (Middle Low German)
- inherited *skiti (Old Saxon)
- inherited *skiti (Proto-West Germanic), 'excrement, feces'
- inherited *skitiz (Proto-Germanic), 'excrement; feces; shit'
- derived *skītaną (Proto-Germanic), 'to defecate, to shit'
- derived *skéydt (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cut off'
- derived *skeyd- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to split, to divide'
- derived *skéydt (Proto-Indo-European), 'to cut off'
- derived *skītaną (Proto-Germanic), 'to defecate, to shit'
- inherited *skitiz (Proto-Germanic), 'excrement; feces; shit'
- inherited *skiti (Proto-West Germanic), 'excrement, feces'
- inherited *skiti (Old Saxon)
- inherited schite (Middle Low German)
Ancestors
- *skiti (Proto-West Germanic)
Cognates and doublets
- skid (Danish)
- schijt (Dutch)
- shit (English)
- Scheiße (German)
- skítur (Icelandic)
- skit (Swedish)
Descendants and derived words
- Schietbüdel (German Low German)
Sources
- Schiet (German Low German) - Wiktionary
- skiti (Proto-West Germanic) - Wiktionary
- skitiz (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
- skītaną (Proto-Germanic) - Wiktionary
Updated August 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris