shirt

Meanings

Noun

• An article of clothing that is worn on the upper part of the body, and often has sleeves, either long or short, that cover the arms.
• An interior lining in a blast furnace.
• A member of the shirt-wearing team in a shirts and skins game.

Verb

• To cover or clothe with a shirt, or as if with a shirt.

Origin

• From Middle English sherte, shurte, schirte, from Old English sċyrte ("a short garment; skirt; kirtle"), from Proto-West Germanic *skurtijā, from Proto-Germanic *skurtijǭ.
• Cognate with Saterland Frisian Schoarte, Dutch schort, German Schürze, Danish skjorte, Norwegian skjorte, Swedish skjorta, Faroese skjúrta, Icelandic skyrta.
• English skirt is a parallel formation from Old Norse; which is a short, from the same ultimate source.
• From Middle English sherten, shirten (also shorten), from the noun (see above).