1712: sjikker (Dutch) Aug 22, 2019
Following from yesterday, there looks like at least one exception to the Germanic patter of words similar to 'siker' meaning 'safe; certain', and that's the Dutch 'sjikker' meaning 'drunk'. This is actually not related at all, and comes from Hebrew rather than Latin like the others ultimately. Dutch and Hebrew—neither Biblical nor Modern—were in much contact, so 'sjikker' comes from the Hebrew שִׁיכֺּור (šikkōr) meaning 'drunkard' via Yiddish שיכּור (shiker). This Yiddish word has in turn also led to the German 'schikker' and the English 'shikker' (alcoholic) but these are both fairly dated.
Support for Word Facts comes from patreon.com/wordfacts, where you can see even more content.
Comments
Post a Comment