ski

Where does the word "ski" come from? It comes from Old Norse skid, passing through Norwegian before entering English (1880s).

Ski’s story begins in Old Norse: skid meant “a split piece of wood.” A split piece of wood, used for sliding over snow. By 1700s, the word had taken hold in Norwegian as ski. Settled in Norwegian for the long wooden snow-runner. It reached English by 1880s as ski. Fridtjof Nansen's 1888 crossing of Greenland on skis popularized skiing. Today, ski means a long narrow runner for gliding over snow, or the sport of using them.

1. Stage 1 · Old Norse · medieval skid "a split piece of wood", a split piece of wood, used for sliding over snow.
2. Stage 2 · Norwegian · 1700s ski "a long wooden runner for gliding over snow", settled in Norwegian for the long wooden snow-runner.
3. Stage 3 · English · 1880s ski "a runner for gliding over snow", Fridtjof Nansen's 1888 crossing of Greenland on skis popularized skiing.