skæv

Danish

Alternative forms

skjæv, skiæv, skjev, skiev (older spellings)

Etymology

From Old Norse skeifr, from Proto-Germanic *skaibaz (“crooked”), of disputed ultimate origin. Perhaps from the same source as *skeuhaz (“frightened, shy”).^[1] Another possibility is Proto-Indo-European *skeh₂iwos, the source of Latin scaevus (“on the left side”).^[2] See also Swedish skev, Dutch scheef, German schief (from Low German).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈskɛːˀv/, [ˈsɡ̊ɛˀʋ], [ˈsɡ̊ɛwˀ]

Adjective

skæv (neuter skævt, plural and definite singular attributive skæve)

Inflection

Inflection of *skæv*
	positive	comparative	superlative
indefinite common singular	skæv	skævere	skævest²
indefinite neuter singular	skævt	skævere	skævest²
plural	skæve	skævere	skævest²
definite attributive¹	skæve	skævere	skæveste

¹ When an adjective is applied predicatively to something definite,
the corresponding "indefinite" form is used.
² The "indefinite" superlatives may not be used attributively.

Synonyms

(high): høj

Descendants

Norwegian Bokmål: skjev

References

^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “skew”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
^ van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “scheef”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

[1] Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “skew”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.

[2] van der Sijs, Nicoline, editor (2010), “scheef”, in Etymologiebank, Meertens Institute

[1]

[2]