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Origin and history of skoal

skoal(interj.)

also skol, Scandinavian toasting word expressing good wishes, c. 1600, from Danish skaal "a toast," literally "bowl, cup," from Old Norse skal "bowl, drinking vessel," originally a cup made from a shell, from Proto-Germanic *skelo (from PIE root *skel- (1) "to cut"). The word first appears in Scottish English, and according to OED might have been popularized or introduced by the visit of James VI of Scotland to Denmark in 1589.

Entries linking to skoal

also *kel-, Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to cut."

It might form all or part of: coulter; cutlass; half; halve; scale (n.1) "skin plates on fish or snakes;" scale (n.2) "weighing instrument;" scalene; scallop; scalp; scalpel; school (n.2) "group of fish;" sculpture; shale; sheldrake; shelf; shell; shield; shoal (n.2) "large number;" skoal; skill.

It might also be the source of: Latin culter "knife," scalpere "to cut, scrape;" Old Church Slavonic skolika "mussel, shell," Russian skala "rind, bark," Lithuanian skelti "split," Old English scell "shell," scalu "drinking cup, bowl, scale of a balance."

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