Etymology of the Word Scum

Etymology of the Word Scum

The word scum, pronounced as http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/ubreve.gif m could be use in many forms. As a noun, it could refer to a layer of dirt or froth on the surface of a liquid or, informally, a worthless or contemptible person or group of people. It could also be used as a verb in the form of scummed or scumming that means to cover or become covered with a layer of scum. Scummy, pronounced as / 'sk&-mE/, is also an adjective derivative of the word scum. It could be further qualified to scummier and scummiest. (http://www.askoxford.com/concise_oed/scum?view=uk) Scum could also be used as a verb in the form of scummed, scumming or scums or as an intransitive verb that means to become covered with scum. (Houghton Mifflin Company, 2000)

The etymology of the word scum started in 1326, when it was implied in scummer "shallow ladle for removing scum." It came from the Middle Dutch schume, meaning foam or froth, from P.Gmc. skuma-, cf. Old Norse skum, Old High German scum, and German Schaum meaning foam or froth.

Scum may also come from Indo-European base (s)keu that means to cover or conceal. The implication of the word evolved from "thin layer atop liquid" to "film of dirt" and eventually simply "dirt" in 1586 meaning the "lowest class of humanity." The word was also used as scum of the Earth in the year 1712.

Scum was then adopted in Romanic, cf. Old French escume, to Modern French ecume, Spanish escuma, and to Italian schiuma. It was used as an adjective in the form of scummy during the year 1577. The definition of "filthy, disreputable" was given during the year 1932. Scum was eventually transformed into its slang term scumbag, implying condom, during the year 1967. (D. Harper, 2001)

The Indo-European root of the word scum, which is (s)keu-, holds the meaning "to cover or conceal." Its zero-grade form is (s)ku-, variant of http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/schwa.gif

-, zero-grade form of http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/schwa.gif

- and later on contracted to http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/umacr.gif

-. The derivatives of these include the words sku, meerschaum, scum, obscure, recoil, and hoard. There are also suffixed basic forms of the mentioned derivatives. Sky came from Old Norse http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/ymacr.gif meaning cloud. Skewbald came from the Scandinavian source which is also similar to the Old Norse cloud or http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/ymacr.gif

The zero-grade form http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/umacr.gif

- was suffixed to form http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/umacr.gif

-mo-. Its derivatives are skim, from the Old French excume or scum, meerschaum, from the Old High German http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/umacr.gif m, also implying scum, and scum, from Middle Dutch http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/umacr.gif m. All of the three mentioned derivatives come from Germanic http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/umacr.gif maz meaning foam or scum, implied in "that which covers the water." The form http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/umacr.gif

- was also suffixed to http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/umacr.gif

-ro-. Its derivatives are obscure and chiaroscuro from the Latin http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/umacr.gif rus meaning "covered or dark." The prefix ob- in Latin means "away from."

Another zero-grade form of (s)keu- is http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/ubrevema.gif

-. It is suffixed to form http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/umacr.gif

-ti that means "hide" from the Old English form http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/ymacr.gif d, skin, hide, from the German form http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/umacr.gif diz. The same zero-grade form was also suffixed, forming ku-ti-. The derivatives of this are cutaneous, cuticle, cutis and cutin from the Latin word cutis meaning skin.

A lus which means the rump or backside. It may also have been suffixed to form ku-to-, with the derivative -cyte, cyto- form the Greek term kutos which means hollow or vessel. An extended zero-grade form kus- also gave the derivatives hose and hosel, which came from the Old English term hosa or hose that is defined as "covering for the leg." It also produced the term lederhosen that came from Old High German term hosa meaning "leg covering." The aforementioned terms all came from Germanic http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/omacr.gif n-. This Germanic form could also then be suffixed to form kuz-dho- or extended to kudh-to-. This gave the derivative hoard which came the from Old English term hord that means "stock, store, treasure or thing hidden away" from Germanic huzdam. The same was compound to kuzdho-zd- which means "sitting (over) a treasure." This also gave the derivative custody which came from the Latin form of http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/omacr.gif meaning "guard." Another derivative is kishke coming from the Russian term kishka meaning "gut or sheath."

Suffixed extended zero-grade form *kut-no- produced the derivative cunnilingus which came from the Latin term cunnus meaning "vulva or sheath." Another extended root keudh- gave the derivative hide which came from the Old English term http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/ymacr.gif dan meaning "to hide or cover up."

Germanic suffixed lengthened zero-grade form http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/umacr.gif d-jan, producing the derivative hut, from French term hutte meaning "hut," also from Germanic suffixed zero-grade form http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/umacr.gif http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/omacr.gif n-. Another derivative is huddle which came from the Low German term hudeln that means "to crowd together," and it may also came from the Germanic term http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/ubrevema.gif d-. Lastly, the derivative shieling came from a Scandinavian source that is similar to the Old Norse term http://bartleby.com/images/pronunciation/amacr.gif li, that means "hut" and from the Germanic suffixed o-grade form skaw-ala-. (http://bartleby.com/61/77/S0177700.html)

In other sources, scum was also defined as an extraneous matter or impurities risen to or formed on the surface of a liquid often as a foul filmy covering. This meaning could be compared to a Pond Scum. Another definition is scum as the scoria of metals in a molten state, or scum as a slimy film on a solid or gelatinous object. It could also mean a low, vile or worthless person or group of people. (http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/scum)