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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

English

short

/ʃɔːt/
Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.

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    Origin

    From Middle English schort, short, from Old English sċeort, sċort (“short”), from Proto-West Germanic *skurt, from Proto-Germanic *skurtaz (“short”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker-. Doublet of shirt, skirt, and curt.

    Cognates

    Cognate with Scots short, schort (“short”), French court, Dutch kort, German kurz, Old High German scurz (“short”) (whence Middle High German schurz), Old Norse skorta (“to lack”) (whence Danish skorte), Albanian shkurt (“short, brief”), Latin curtus (“shortened, incomplete”) and Proto-Slavic *kortъkъ. See more at shirt.

    From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

    Lineage

    • inheritedMiddle Englishschort
      • inheritedOld Englishsċort
        • inheritedProto-West Germanic*skurt
          • inheritedProto-Germanic*skurtaz
            • derivedProto-Germanic*skertaną “to hop, jump”
              • derivedProto-Indo-European*(s)kerǝd- “to dance, jump”
    • rootProto-Indo-European*(s)ker- “to cut; shorten; skimp”

    Related: English shirt (doublet), English skirt (doublet), English curt (doublet), Scots short, French court, Dutch kort, German kurz, Old High German scurz, Middle High German schurz, Old Norse skorta, Danish skorte, Albanian shkurt, Latin curtus, Proto-Slavic *kortъkъ

    Words built on it: the

    Meanings

    adj
    1. Having a small distance from one end or edge to another, either horizontally or vertically.
    2. Of a person, living being, or object, having a comparatively small height.
    3. Having little duration.
    4. Of a word or phrase, constituting an abbreviation (for another) or shortened form (of another).
    5. Of a fielder or fielding position, that is relatively close to the batsman.
    6. Of a ball, bowled so that it bounces relatively far from the batsman.
    adv
    1. Abruptly, curtly, briefly.
    2. Unawares.
    3. Without achieving a goal or requirement.
    4. Relatively far from the batsman and hence bouncing higher than normal; opposite of full.
    5. With a negative ownership position.
    noun
    1. A short circuit.
    2. A short film.
    3. A short-form vertical video.
    4. A vertical video of any length.
    5. A short version of a garment in a particular size.
    6. A shortstop.
    verb
    1. To cause a short circuit in (something).
    2. To short circuit.
    3. To provide with an amount smaller than that agreed or labeled; to shortchange.
    4. To sell something, especially securities, that one does not own at the moment for delivery at a later date in hopes of profiting from a decline in the price; to sell short.
    5. To shorten.

    Sources

    • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
    • Wiktionary: short