Talk:scare
English Etymology[edit]
I suspect a root in Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/(s)kelh₁- (withered), whence skeleton and σκληρός. Scaring in a friendly way implies hardening someone up, as withering would figuratively do. Given the norse cognate (shy) - I don't know if the norse has an obviously different root - Shyness and withering likewise imply small size, or shrinking. Lo and behold, shrink < Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/skrinkwaną < PIE wither. Although that's not the same reconstruction, the meaning is the same. Although, Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/(s)ker-, which seems similar, is given as the root of crux (cross) and translated as ”to cut” (on its own page) or “to turn, to bend” (at crux), which send me on this trail to begin with. Is there indeed a connection?
Alas, I have no source. Nov 29. 2016 91.66.11.241