SCAIT, _sb._ the skate fish. Dunbar, 261, 9. O.N. _skata_, Norse _skata_, the skate, M.E. _scate_. Ir. _scat_, _sgat_, id., is a loan-word from O.N. (Cp. Craigie, p. 163). O.N. _sk_ becomes quite regularly _sg_ in Ir. and Gael. Cp. also _sgeir_ < _skar_. Cu. _skeatt_ exhibits regular i-fracture from older _a_.
SCAITH, SCATH, _vb._ to injure. Bruce, IV, 363; XII, 392; R. R., 1323. Not from O. Nhb. _sceðða_, but from O.N. _skaða_, Norse _skade_, with which the vowel corresponds.
SCAR, _sb._ a precipitous bank of earth, a bare place on the side of a steep hill, a cliff. Ramsay, II, 205; Burns, 10, 11. Also written _skard_, _scair_, _scaur_. O.N. _sker_, a skerry, an isolated rock in the sea. Norse _skjær_, a projecting cliff, a bank of rocky ground, Dan. _skjær_, _skær_, a rock in the water near the land, Sw. _skär_, M.E. _sker_, _scerre_. Cp. Cu. _skerr_, a precipice. The fundamental idea is "something cut apart, standing by itself." Root the same as in the Norse _skera_, to cut, Eng. _shear_ and _shore_, sea-_shore._ Cp. the O.E. vb. _scorian_ cited by Sweet.
SCARTH, _sb._ the cormorant. Dunbar, T.M.W., 92; F., 194; Douglas, I, 46, 15. O.N. _skarfr_, Norse _skarv_, cormorant. Shetland, _scarf_.
SCHOIR, _sb._ a threat, menace. Bruce, VI, 621; Gol. and Gaw., 103. B-S. derive from O. Sw. _skorra_, O.N. _skera_.
SCOL, _vb._ to wish one health, an expression used in drinking, just as the Norse _skaal_ is used. Montg. S., 69, 13. O.N. _skal_, Norse _skaal_, a drinking cup. Cp. Sco. _skull_, a goblet. Ir.-Gael. _scala_, _sgaile_, a beaker, is a Norse loan-word (Craigie).
SCOUG, scog, _vb._ to shelter. M.W., 20, 19; Isaiah, XVIII, 6. O.N. _skuggi_, shade, Norse _skugge_, to shade, Sw. _skugga_, sb., Dan. _skygge_, to shade. Spelled _scug_ also in Sco.
SCRATCH, _sb._ an hermaphrodite. Jamieson. O.N. _skratti_, a monster. This form exists in Yorkshire, otherwise the form in Eng. dial. is _scrat_. See Wall.
SCRIP, a coarse or obscene gesture. Wallace, VI, 143. Probably from O.N. _skripi_. Cp. _skripatal_, scurrilous language, _skripalæti_, buffoonery, scurrilous gestures. With the Sco. word cp. the Norse _skripa_, vb., _skripa_, sb. f., and Ic. _skrípr_, sb. m. See Aasen.
SCUD, _vb._ to hurry away, hasten on. Burns, 55, 1, 4. Eng. _scud_ Skeat derives from Dan. _skyde_, Sw. _skutta_. The Sw. form is nearest, the Dan. form shows umlaut. The corresponding O.E. word is _scēotan_.