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Origin and history of shin

shin(n.)

Middle English shin, from Old English scinu "fore part of the leg below the knee; shinbone," from Proto-Germanic *skino "thin piece" (source also of Dutch scheen, Middle Low German schene, Old High German scina "shin," German Schienbein "shin, shinbones"), from PIE root *skei- "to cut, split." Shinbone, shin-bone is Old English scinban. Shin splints is attested by that name from 1930.

shin(v.)

"to climb by using arms and legs, use the shins in climbing" (originally a nautical word), 1829, from shin (n.). Related: Shinned; shinning.

also from 1829

Entries linking to shin

chine(n.)

"spine, backbone," c. 1300, from Anglo-French achine, Old French eschine (11c., Modern French échine), a word of uncertain origin, perhaps from Germanic (compare Old English scinu "shinbone;" see shin (n.)).

sharp-shinned(adj.)

1704, of persons, "having slender shanks," 1813 of hawks; see sharp (adj.) + shin (n.).

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shindig
"a dance, a ball; rowdy party, lively gathering," 1851, U.S. colloquial, probably from earlier slang shindy "a spree, row, disturbance, merrymaking" (1821). That also was the name of an early game resembling hockey (1846); in this sense the word is perhaps from shinty (1771), the
scramble
1580s (intransitive), "make one's way by clambering, etc., struggle or wriggle along," also "strive with others or jostle and grasp rudely for a share or for mastery;" a word of obscure origin, perhaps a nasalized variant of scrabble (v.) "to struggle; to scrape quickly." OED poi
skin
c. 1200, "animal hide" (usually dressed and tanned), from Old Norse skinn "animal hide, fur," from Proto-Germanic *skinth- (source also of rare Old English scinn, Old High German scinten, German schinden "to flay, skin;" German dialectal schind "skin of a fruit," Flemish schinde
swarm
"to climb (a tree, pole, etc.) by clasping with the arms and legs alternately, to shin," 1540s, of uncertain origin....
ham
This is from PIE *knam- "shin bone" (source also of Greek knēmē "calf of the leg, shank, tibia; spoke of a wheel," Old Irish...
struggle
late 14c., strogelen, "wrestle, grapple, contend physically," a word of obscure origin, probably a frequentative form with -el (3) (compare trample, wrestle), but the first element is uncertain. According to OED, Skeat suggests Old Norse strugr "ill will," while others suggest a
cut
c. 1300, "to make, with an edged tool or instrument, an incision in; make incisions for the purpose of dividing into two or more parts; remove by means of a cutting instrument;" of an implement, "have a cutting edge," according to Middle English Compendium from a presumed Old Eng
leg
late 13c., from a Scandinavian source, probably Old Norse leggr "a leg, bone of the arm or leg," from Proto-Germanic *lagjaz (cognates Danish læg, Swedish läg "the calf of the leg"), a word with no certain ulterior connections. Perhaps from a PIE root meaning "to bend" [Buck]. Fo
climb
Old English climban "raise oneself using hands and feet; rise gradually, ascend; make an ascent of" (past tense clamb, past participle clumben, clumbe), from West Germanic *klimban "go up by clinging" (source also of Dutch klimmen, Old High German klimban, German klimmen "to clim
sink
Middle English sinken, from Old English sincan (intransitive) "become submerged, go under, subside" (past tense sanc, past participle suncen), from Proto-Germanic *senkwan (source also of Old Saxon sinkan, Old Norse sökkva, Middle Dutch sinken, Dutch zinken, Old High German sinka

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