Etymology

Continuing late OE scinn, always derived from ON, cp. OIcel skinn (neut.) 'skin (of humans or animals), fur' < PGmc *skenþan, cp. MHG scint (fem.) 'fruit shell' (and further the verbs OHG scindan, MLG schinden, schinnen 'to flay'). The absence of initial palatalization of /sk/ is a secure test of loan, as is the consonant cluster assimiliation /nθ/ > /nn/ (on possible early runic evidence see SPS 58).

PGmc Ancestor

*skenþan

Proposed ON Etymon (OIcel representative)

skinn 'skin (of humans or animals), fur'
(ONP skinn (sb.))

Other Scandinavian Reflexes

Far skinn, Icel skinn, Norw skinn, Dan skind, Sw skinn

OE Cognate

Phonological and morphological markers

absence of palatalization of */sk/

ON consonant cluster assimilation

Summary category

A1

Attestation

OE scinn is recorded from the 11c., but SPS (154) points out that the earliest records already show somewhat widespread use and that the word was already productive as a compound element as well as a simplex. Common and widespread in ME.

Occurrences in the Gersum Corpus

WA 4114, 5084

Bibliography

MED skin (n.1) , OED3 skin (n.) , SPS 58, Bj. 127, de Vries skinn, Mag. skinn, Orel *skenþan ~ *skenþō