score

Where does the word "score" come from? It comes from Old Norse skor, and was adopted directly into English (1200s).

Score’s story begins in Old Norse: skor meant “a notch, a tally mark.” A notch or tally mark cut to keep count of something. It reached English by 1200s as score. Broadened from a tally notch to a count of twenty, then any recorded total. Today, score means the recorded total of points made in a game or test.

1. Stage 1 · Old Norse · medieval skor "a notch, a tally mark", a notch or tally mark cut to keep count of something.
2. Stage 2 · English · 1200s score "a recorded total, or a group of twenty", broadened from a tally notch to a count of twenty, then any recorded total.