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DictionaryRoot: sceotan
Old English

sceotan

shoot, dart, or move swiftly

Forms

  • sceotan
  • shoot — The initial sound and vowel developed into the modern form.
  • shot — A changed-vowel form used for past action and related nouns.

Origin

An inherited Germanic swift-movement verb.

Note

The family concerns sending or moving something quickly, not originally firearms.

3 / 5
A middle-aged South Asian man fires a handgun toward a plain target at a controlled outdoor shooting range, with a small puff of muzzle smoke making the action clear.
noun

shooter

SHOO-ter/ˈʃuːtər/

A person who fires a projectile.

Etymology
shootOld Englishshoot, dart, or move swiftly
+erEnglisha person or thing that does something

The shoot root and person-marking ending name whoever discharges a projectile. The word already described someone shooting arrows; its use for a gun user carries the same role over to firearms.

Full entry

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